Fairy Tail -- Ethereal Chronicles
by Raidster
Summary: In the land of Fiore, there lies one guild from which legends were born: Fairy Tail. This is its story. (AU, new characters, new arcs, new story elements)
1. Introduction: Fairy Tail

_**Author's Notes: Goddamn, it seems to be an instinct to just forget to write the A/N.**_

 _ **Anyways. Here is my Fairy Tail AU, Eternal Chronicles. Like the description said, you can expect stuff along the lines of new arcs, characters, hell, even brand new storylines...**_

 _ **If this isn't your first time reading this (as in, you had already read this**_ **before _I put in the A/N), and you feel like a new chapter is taking long to show up... exams and other school stuff tend to make a problematic schedule._**

 ** _Regardless, know no fear, for I am finishing the second chapter, preparing the chapters for the Daybreak and Lullaby arcs, and establishing the number of chapters for the first two new arcs in this AU: Jaxim Reyes (dealing with a member of one of the two criminal mafia-ish families mentioned in the opening part) and Messenger (which sets up the stage for another "big dog" storyline that is intimately linked to the current Zeref storyline, which actually only serves to expand the main plot: the three-way secret war between three organizations also mentioned in this opening piece.)_**

 ** _It's going to involve much more stuff from other nations (although, like the real and canon FT, it takes place mostly in Fiore and outskirts.)_**

 ** _If this IS your first time reading this... well, leave a review, good or bad, as long as it's valid._**

 ** _Oh, and one last thing: the pairings. The only goddamned way I'm going to make a relationship between a canon character and an OC is if the character doesn't explicitly end up paired up with someone else by the time canon FT ends. Regarding the pairings between the canon characters, they're going to be whatever Mashima-san puts in FT. I am, personally, a NaLu shipper, but if FT ends with Natsu paired up with Lisanna, I'm not going to rage around and ragequit on this fic._**

* * *

 _ **Era, Fiore, Earthland**_

"ULTEAR!"

The Second Seat's scream reverberated through the reunion room, where the thirteen members of the Council lay.

Said room was more akin to a massive, open-air space, with a clear line of sight to the mountains that concealed Era, their headquarters. A large table dominated the center of the spot, with thirteen seats, one for each member of the Magic Council, the organization in charge of conducting the laws and politics of Earthland.

Ever since the ending of the Armageddon Wars, thirteen people were the ones given the power to mold society as they saw fit. In times of war, they were the ones expected to end it, and in times of peace, the ones expected to make it last for generations. For every year, the Chairman and the Twelve Seats were the ones meant to guide the people of Earthland to prosperity.

The Magic Council.

The Council's current Chairman, Crawford Seam, had kept the seat of Chairman for over 40 years. A political genius unlike any other, Seam had the ability to sway even the most die-hard dissidents to his side, and had managed to reinforce peace between the Pergrande Kingdom and the Umbreos Union, two superpowers which everyone knew disliked each other, to the point of risking full-scale war just so that one could show the other who was the boss. It is said that when he resigns, it would be 500 years until a politician of his caliber would become Chairman again.

Org Avalon, the Second Seat, was a monk of the Syon Kai order, an elusive group of scholars who spent their time isolated in the northern reaches of Iceberg. He is notable for being the first monk to join the Council, with the ambition of using his knowledge acquired with the Syon Kai to maintain order throughout the lands, and is also the most likely candidate to take the seat of Chairman after Seam resigned.

The position of Third Seat was occupied by Michello Felix, replacing Torch Endeavor, whose old age was catching up to him, and was now living his years of retirement on his home on Minstrel, with his wife, children and grandchildren. Sadly, popular opinion is that the level-headed Torch was a far better Councillor than the grumpy Michello, who opted for the fastest way to solve things, usually through less than diplomatic means.

Lejii Theobalt held the Fourth Seat. While he was not the constantly complaining pessimist Michello was, he was little better than him as a politician, and was the number one subject of scandals, which amused the Tenth Seat to no end. Rumor had it that he only got the Seat because his uncle, Uman Theobalt, wished for it to happen. In reality, he was there because he was the one who could most easily counter Michello's arguments.

The Fifth Seat, Belno Radion, was a calm and collected woman. The only Councillor to hold unanimous approval from all other seats, she was a patient mediator, excellent at reading people and knowing how to calm them and/or persuade them.

Yajima Sentomatsu was the current holder of the Sixth Seat, and the only Councillor to hail from a Magic Guild (more specifically, Fairy Tail), and was a good friend of the guild Master, Makarov Dreyar. Normally silent, he usually spoke whenever he felt was necessary, and his silence annoyed the other Councillors. Either the silence, or the fact that he was a member of Fairy Tail.

The only exception was the Seventh Seat, Yuri Sideroff. A greatly ancient figure, the frail man was over a hundred years old. While Belno might be a mediator, everyone would immediately pay attention if Yuri wished to speak. His wisdom usually gained support to whichever opinion he defended

Old Hogg Orton, the tough, no-nonsense Eighth Seat, was a stoic figure, and a decorated general of the Umbreos Union. In the rare cases where Crawford Seam's diplomatic talents could not defuse a situation, Hogg would send a 'warning message' in the form of a battalion. He was the man responsible for reinforcing the military might of the Council, wisely declaring that "words alone will never solve all the problems in this fuckin' shitty world".

But where Hogg preferred armies, the Ninth Seat, Hessar Yussef, favored subterfuge and spycraft. Such preference came from his Desiertian upbringing, where there were no cities, but rather huge nomadic tribes which were more like mobile cities, and where mistrust among different tribes was common, exactly due to the large amount of spies. Unusually, he and Hogg employed their resources to complement each other.

Balthazar Kron was the Tenth Seat. A link between the wisdom of age and the recklessness of youth, he was a traveler from the West who wanted to make money with a business idea. Now, he is a wealthy entrepreneur with links to several institutions dedicated to the research of magic, and a tremendously powerful mage himself. He had twice the Chairman's foresight, but half his governing skills, and yet, he held the approval and esteem of only half the other members of the Council.

The Eleventh Seat was Syndros. A distinct figure due to the iron mask concealing his features (or rather, the burned and disfigured remains of them), nothing was known of his past. He only emerged from nothing thirty years ago near Port Hargeon, after a strange phenomenon occurred in the exact same area. He was a far more silent figure than Yajima, to the point of only acting whenever the Council needed to vote on an urgent matter.

Siegrain Fernandes was one of the two most recent Councillors, the Twelvth Seat. Brash and arrogant, he was usually disinterested in the most morose aspects of governing a world, and loved to either see trouble, or to brew it himself. The most vocal opposition he had came from Org, Michello, and Kron.

The other one was the Thirteenth Seat, Ultear Milkovich. She was, essentially, a female version of Siegrain. The only things that made her different from him was a shorter temper and a tendency to play around with crystal balls.

It was the latter that attracted Org's ire. She had been employing her magic to make her ball crack into pieces, then reforming it, multiple times.

"Stop toying around during the meeting!"

"And why?" Ultear replied before mockingly yawning. "I'm feeling really bored, with this never-ending talk." She turned to the man on her right. "Aren't you bored as well, Siegrain-sama?"

Siegrain pulled aside a bit of blue hair that was covering his right eye, exposing the intricate marking that surrounded it. It was the most noteworthy trait he had.

"Yeah… I'm feeling bored over here as well." He answered, smiling. "I mean, I'm actually _hoping_ someone could hop in and cause some trouble. It surely would make things exciting around here."

The Tenth Seat, Balthazar Kron, shifted around.

"Tell me, Siegs," he asked. "what is your definition of 'fun', exactly? Given the kind of troublemakers we have lying around, you'd have to be careful what you wish for."

"Oh?" Siegrain smiled arrogantly. "How so?"

Now it was Kron's turn to smile. Instead of arrogance, the huge shit-eating grin he displayed was openly mocking the Twelvth Seat. "Well. Let me just explain to you. First off, the Balam Alliance. Oración Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartarus, the three big bad Dark Guilds of the world, allied through a pact of non-agression, meaning we can't just manipulate them into fighting one another."

"Hmm. Indeed." Old Hogg replied in agreement. "The only good course of action would be to mobilize the Rune Corps and the Morbius Legion, and we cannot afford to sustain the heavy losses that would inevitably arise. Maybe not if we pit them against Zeref cultists or the Reyes and Accron families, but still…"

Yussef laughed it off. "You mean _only_ the Reyes and the Accrons. Zeref cultists operate in a very disorganized manner. The only ones that could pose a significant threat would be the Mad Priest Arlock, the Demon's Voice, or even Yrael the Voidtouched."

"And yet, several of these 'disorganized cultists' can go and rape, pillage and burn isolated villages by the countryside or smaller towns, all 'for the glory of the Father-of-Death Zeref'." The ancient Yuri intervened. "We should focus on the small worms eating the leaves from our trees just as much as we do on the raging inferno that can burn away the whole prairie."

"You talk about groups like Rapture, Zenith, Aurora and the like when you mention the inferno, am I right, Yuri-roshi?" Kron asked the Seventh Seat, who calmly nodded in reply. "Yes, I can see why. King-General Ezekhiall wastes no time recruiting as many people as he can to Aurora, and Zenith is all preachy-preachy about the betterment of mankind. Honestly, I can't see how that justifies all the sick experiments they perform on people, but, then again, people just get crazy like that." He concluded before taking a sip of his wine.

"And you forget the bigger threat; Rapture." Belno stepped in. "For all the possible threats that we talk about, we forget the ones that prefer to hide in the shadows and operate through others, even though they have an army of their own."

"Honestly, I think Rapture is not hiding in the shadows; they themselves _are_ the shadows." Leiji intervened. "We should play a more active role instead of remaining passive about it all."

Siegrain slowly clapped. "Wow, Theobalt, that was the wisest decision I've ever seen coming from you."

Ultear didn't try to hide her mirth. Before Siegrain could continue, he was interrupted by Michello, who was whispering loud enough for him to hear. "Why did these idiots have to join the Council…?"

"Because we got tons of magic power. Because we are strong like that." Siegrain replied before whispering as well, "you old fart…"

The reactions were varied. Yajima, Syndros, Yuri and Org kept their silence. Belno looked at Siegrain with a disapproving expression on her face. Old Hogg merely sighed. Kron, Leiji and Hessar, however, were snickering at the whispered insult, while Ultear was laughing more openly.

Michello, as anyone would expect, was incensed, his face taking on an angry red tone. "You miserable _little_ —"

" **Silence.** " Crawford Seam's deep voice rumbled. Both Michello and Siegrain stood down immediately.

The Chairman looked once at each of his fellow Councillors before proceeding. "Indeed, as Balthazar mentioned, we are currently facing many problems. However, there is another that he failed to mention."

Kron looked at the Chairman with a pensative expression. "Then I beg of you to explain, Chairman Seam."

The Chairman continued. "While there are many problems arising and persisting in the world, we forget that sometimes, our legal organs are just as destructive, while not exactly as evil."

Hessar straightened up. "You're talking about—"

"Indeed. I am talking about one particular Magic Guild whose members are known for their tendency to destroy everything around them, or to do other less than admirable things, to get the job done."

"I am talking about the mages of _Fairy Tail_."

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _ **Hargeon Town, Fiore, Earthland**_

Hargeon Town was a modest commercial and touristic nexus on Fiore. It was a city renowned for fishing, unlike most other cities like it, which focused on magic artifacts and objects. Such was due to being a port town, and many people there earned a living selling fish near the marina. Farther away from the seas, several shops dedicated themselves to jewelry, or clothing.

However, despite being a port town, most people tended to travel there by land or air. In fact, that day, Hargeon's train station was on one of its busiest days. Trains from all over Fiore were arriving, people coming and going for whatever reasons in their daily lives justified it.

One of these trains, which had left from Magnolia Town, was facing a rather peculiar situation.

"Excuse me, sir…" The train's conductor began to ask. "Are you OK?"

A pink-haired boy wearing a red coat and a white scarf was lying on the floor with a sickened expression on his face, looking like he was about to vomit. Accompanying him was a strange sort of cat, with blue fur. As if that wasn't strange enough for the train's crew, the cat could also stand on two legs and speak like people do.

"Aye. There's no need to worry." The blue cat explained to them. "It happens all the time—oh," he said as he saw the boy get back up with effort. "See, he's fine."

The conductor nodded, dumbfounded at the talking cat, and promptly left.

"Uuuughhh, this is impossible…" the boy spoke. "After this, I'm never, _ever_ , riding a train ever again." Immediately after speaking, he covered his mouth so that he wouldn't vomit on the train floor.

"Oh well," the blue cat replied, unperturbed by the happenings. "If the information we got is correct, then that means Salamander must be hanging around." He turned to the boy. "Come on, Natsu, let's go."

The blue cat had already exited the train when the boy, Natsu, held up a hand. "Happy, wait. Just… let me rest for a while…"

Happy, the blue cat, turned around to face him. "Okay—oh…"

He noticed the train was about to start moving, much to Natsu's horror.

"It's already departing…"

As the train began to speed away, Natsu only screamed, " **HEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEE!** "

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

In another spot of Hargeon Town, overlooking the port, another boy, wearing a black and dark green longcoat with a hood pulled over his head, watched the people of the city walking about in their daily lives. His name was Matthiah.

He had heard rumors that a renegade mage was spotted around Hargeon and its surrounding area, and was looking to know why. That, and put him down, in the event that he had hidden intentions.

For the last four years, this was Matthiah's occupation: acting as an unseen vigilante and discreetly collaborating with official and independent Guilds to apprehend and put down mages who were tip-toeing with the rules.

 _Honestly, it's getting tiring. Thank goodness this is the one last job._

Finishing his observation, he started walking towards a restaurant that was one of his old favorites. This was Matthiah's last escapade as a vigilante. After that, he would have to find another way to live his life.

 _Who knows? Maybe I can join a Guild, one of these days… given time._

Upon entering the restaurant, he was greeted by the smell of various foods that were served there. He sat down, and a waiter immediately moved to greet him with the menu.

"I'll just have a plate of grilled salmon. Not so hungry." Matthiah said after taking a look through the menu. A few minutes later, his meal was placed on the table, and he immediately started eating.

However, upon finished, he discovered he had a small problem on his hands.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"What do ya mean, _ya can't pay?_ " The restaurant's owner asked angrily.

Matthiah was at a loss for words. He didn't know how he forgot he had no money on him. _It's official. Most embarrassing moment of my life, right here._

"Uh, mister, look…" Matthiah replied as carefully as he could, so that the owner wouldn't get even angrier at him. "I kind of forgot I had no money, alright? Please, maybe we can work out a deal." He finished, rubbing his hands nervously.

"Hmm." The owner scratched his chin. "Come to think of it…" he turned to the kitchens. "Hey, Marle! Didn't Jay and Hakko take the day off?"

"Yep!" the man named Marle replied. "Never even bothered to tell why!"

The owner turned back to Matthiah. "Well, kid, there ya go."

"Uhh… I'm not a particularly good cook, but… okay." Matthiah acknowledged.

"What? Cook? HA!" The owner laughed. "No, you're gonna wash the dishes until Marle over there thinks it's enough! What made ya think ya were gonna _cook?_ HA!"

 _So much for my last job…_

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Whaaa-?" Lucy Heartfilia was almost at a loss for words. "There's only _one_ magic store in this town?"

"Yes, well, Hargeon was always more prosperous in fishing than properly in magic, you see?" The shopkeeper patiently explained. "Only about ten percent of this town's population can use magic, so this store targets travelling mages.

Lucy let out a disappointed sigh. "Then I think I've wasted my time here…"

"What?" The shopkeeper asked in disbelief. "Please, young lady, don't say that. At least, have a look around before you leave. After all, I got several new items earlier today, too."

To demonstrate, the shopkeeper got up and headed to a shelf dedicated to "aesthetic products" and picked up a small pink block, with the word "ColorS" written on it, and below it, a sort of mirror.

"For example, this ColorS magic. It's really popular among girls your age. Because, depending on your mood for the day…" the shopkeeper brushed the mirror against his white shirt, which immediately turned a dark blue. "…you can change the colour of your clothes!"

Lucy just stared at the shopkeeper with a disinterested expression. "I already have it." She started walking around the store to check for other products. "I'm more interested in Celestial Spirit Keys. Of the strong kind."

"Ah, Spirit Keys, eh?" The shopkeeper asked. "That's an uncommon request. Now, I think I might have—"

"Canis Minor, the White Dog?" Lucy interrupted the shopkeeper. She was staring at a silver key with a blue head drawn around the grip.

"Ah, well, that particular spirit is not exactly strong…" The shopkeeper began to say.

"No worries. I've been looking around for it, actually." Lucy said. Excited, she turned to the shopkeeper. "How much is it?"

"Twenty-thousand Jewels." The shopkeeper replied.

In response, Lucy puffed her chest up. "I wonder how much it is…"

"Twenty-thousand Jewels." The shopkeeper repeated.

However, if there was one thing the shopkeeper didn't know, it was that Lucy Heartfilia was a girl much aware of her own good looks, and she was most certainly not above using her sex appeal to get what she wanted. As such, that's why he was surprised when she adopted a more seductive pose, allowing him a clear view over her cleavage.

"I wonder how much it _really_ is, good sir…" she asked again.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Pffft," Lucy angrily muttered as she strolled down Hargeon's streets. "Why did I only get a thousand-Jewel discount…?"

There were days where Lucy's sex appeal didn't work as well as she intended.

Considering she was willing to kick down anything in a fit of rage at this moment, this was most certainly one of these days.

"IS THAT ALL MY SEX APPEAL'S WORTH?" She suddenly began screaming, kicking a nearby sign not long after. "JUST A THOUSAND MISERABLE **JEWELS**?"

While normally, such outbursts might have caught the citizens' attention, it didn't happen this time, because a massive group of women ran through the street screaming in joy. Even Lucy stopped raging to better understand what was going on.

The answer came soon enough.

"It's Salamander-sama!"

"A famous mage is in town!"

"Salamander…?" Lucy questioned herself before realization dawned in on her. _The mage who controls Fire Magic? The kind which you can't buy?_

She hurried after the crowd of women. Shortly after, she found Salamander – or rather, the mass of women surrounding him.

 _Oh my, he's that popular. Wonder if he looks cute…_

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"I _hate_ this." Natsu complained. "I had to ride that train twice…"

"That's because you don't get along with transports." Happy replied.

"I'm sooo hungry…" Natsu continued speaking.

"And we don't have money." Happy explained.

Natsu merely grumbled in reply. After a few minutes, he asked, "Hey, Happy, they did mean Igneel when they were talking about Salamander… right?"

"Aye." Happy responded. "Igneel's the only thing that comes at the top of my head whenever I hear 'Salamander'."

Just then, they passed by a crowd of girls screaming and swooning over someone. "Salamander-sama!" "He's so _handsome_ …"

Natsu instantly cheered up and started running towards the crowd. "Speak of the devil…"

"Aye!" Happy agreed, following after his friend.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _Why is my heart beating so fast…?_

Lucy had pushed her way through all the swooning women to get a better look at Salamander. The man's features were certainly handsome, but she couldn't quite place her finger on why exactly she was having such a reaction to the man before her.

"Ha, I'm flattered!" Salamander playfully said to a brunette who had just praised his looks. "You'll have to tell me the rest of that story later!" he continued before turning to Lucy, shooting her a particularly intense look.

The reaction was near instantaneous. Her heart started beating at twice the normal speed and her thoughts were starting to get increasingly incoherent. _Is it because he's a famous mage? Is_ this _why my heart's beating this fast?_ she thought, as her mind was losing coherence with each passing second. _Maybe…_

She started to approach Salamander, and was just within a few feet of him…

…until another figure started to rudely push away some of the women in the crowd, screaming, "Igneel!" A strange blue cat followed with him, also screaming "Igneel!"

"…who is this brat?" One of the women asked.

"What is Igneel?"

"Is he a weirdo?"

Independently of the answers to these questions, the pink-haired boy's interruption was enough to shake Lucy out of her stupor. Now, she was paying attention to the boy's face, changing from an expression of joy to one of pure confusion.

And from the looks of things, Salamander was just as confused.

"Uhhh…" The boy started to speak. "Who _are_ you?"

Everyone was taken by surprise by the unexpected question. _Is he talking seriously?_ Lucy thought to herself.

If the look on Salamander's face was any indication, he too was shocked.

And yet, the fire mage shook it off with a laugh. "Well, you might have heard of me around these parts by the name of 'Salamander'…" He turned around, only to see the boy was already walking away dejectedly. Besides him, Lucy was the only other person who noticed it; all the other women were too fixated on Salamander's visage.

"Gone already?..." The famous mage asked disbelievingly.

Much to Lucy's surprise, these two words had an immediate effect on the crowd of women, who immediately converged on the boy and started pulling him aggressively back to Salamander.

"You are so rude!" – "You should show some respect for Salamander-sama!" – "He's an amazing mage!" – "YOU WILL APOLOGIZE!"

"What the heck…?" The boy asked in disbelief. In fact, he looked too surprised to try releasing himself from the extremely angry women.

The blue cat merely stood there, as if it was watching a vaguely amusing scene from afar.

Fortunately, Salamander intervened. "Girls, girls, that's enough, frankly. I don't think he really meant it, either."

For the second time, Lucy was surprised by the sudden 180 on the women's attitude: "Aaaahhh…" – "You're so _kind-hearted…_ "

 _Makes you wonder if there's something more behind this mass infatuation…_ She thought as she watched Salamander pick up a sheet of paper and a pen and started writing on it.

"Here, you can have my signature as compensation." The fire mage friendly offered. "Later on, you can show it to your friends, as well!"

"I don't want it." The boy replied.

This time, Lucy wasn't surprised at all when the crowd of fangirls collectively threw him a few feet down the street, followed by the signed sheet. "Get lost!" – "Ungrateful moron!"

She heard the blue cat say, "It wasn't him." Her curiosity was piqued.

"Well, I most appreciate your enthusiastic welcome, ladies…" Salamender started to speak. "… but I have some urgent errands to run at the port. So… please excuse me…"

He snapped his fingers, a massive shroud of fiery red mist conjuring beneath his feet in reply.

"…and farewell."

The mist began to rise up, transporting Salamender with it to the general direction of the port. Before he vanished from sight, he took his time to state, "I will be having a party on my ship tonight. You are _all_ invited."

The fangirls' reaction (collective screams of joy) was as expected.

Lucy walked up to the boy, who was asking to himself, "Who is that guy?..."

"A really disgusting person, I'm sure." She replied as they saw Salamander fly away.

"Oh, and… thanks for back there." She continued.

Both the boy and the blue cat looked at her with questioning looks on their faces for a brief moment until the sound of a rumbling stomach caught everyone's attention.

"Happy, I need to eat, _now…_ " The boy commented with a pained expression painted over his face.

Happy merely sighed. "And I told you, Natsu. We have no money. And our information was wrong." The blue cat looked slightly dismayed.

"Umm, actually, I can buy you a meal if you really need one." Lucy offered.

Natsu, the pink-haired boy, rose up almost instantaneously. " _Really?_ ", he asked in reply. "Really really really REALLY?"

"Yeah," Lucy replied, slightly caught by Natsu's enthusiastic reaction. "There's a restaurant nearby which I really enjoy. I can show you there."

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _Didn't take as long as I expected…_

Matthiah sat enjoying his second meal of the day. Given the personality of the restaurant's owner, he expected that he had to wash an unholy amount of plates just to pay for a single grilled salmon.

Much to his surprise (and delight), he found out that the unholy amount of plates that he washed was enough to afford not only for the salmon, but a whole other few meals as well.

Given that the constant washing left him ever more hungry, he had seized the opportunity and ordered some of those meals to satisfy himself.

As he finished the steak and moved on to the sushi, he pondered on the curious twist of luck. It was not unusual for him to find himself short on money and having to do other tasks to help pay. But it was a rare occurrence to see him actually benefit from it later on.

In fact, the only 'con' he had to note was the person sitting behind him, if the sounds of ravenous chowing down on food were any indication.

"Yurrrahnaizperrshun."

Matthiah assumed that the person – a pink-haired boy about his age – was saying 'you're a nice person'. He assumed the boy was, like him, out of money.

Only, he had found some luck. Accompanying him was a cute blonde girl who he assumed had paid for the meal. Currently, she was awkwardly holding up her hands to protect herself from the bits of food that splashed in her general direction.

"So, Natsu and Happy, right?" she asked.

"Aye!" a second voice came from what Matthiah identified as a blue cat who was just as voracious as the boy. He thought it was a muffled meow until the cat added, "By the way, Natsu here meant 'you're a nice person'".

"I can understand what the two of you are saying," the girl explained. "but please, try to eat slowly." She added in a whisper, "or else food will just keep splashing all over the place. And the discount I got with my sex appeal wasn't even that much…"

Matthiah presumed they slightly complied, given that the sounds lowered a little bit.

"Oh, by the way," Natsu began to say. "why did you thank us earlier?"

"Because that man, Salamander, was using a magic called Charm." The girl explained.

The moment she said the words 'Salamander' and 'Charm', Matthiah immediately paid more attention to the conversation behind her, as the girl explained the details of said magic.

Matthiah had already heard of Charm: a peculiar form of magic that made other people attracted to its casters, and was the leading cause of some nasty cases during the past few years after the Magic Council banned it in the year X760.

And, of course, the mage he was targeting was going by the nickname 'Salamander', and he had spent a few nights with some women. When Matthiah had tried to gain some extra information, the women spoke so whole-heartedly of him that Matthiah suspected either a few love potions, or Charm.

That is, the ones he could find. Most were missing, and next to no one knew where they were.

"However, when you guys jumped in, the magic wore off on me. Well, at least I'm not one of the girls that's going to his ship." The girl continued explaining.

"I see." Natsu simply replied, his mouth filled with chunks of the chicken leg he had targeted then.

The girl kept talking. "You know, despite looking fairly… ordinary, I am a mage."

Natsu rose his head to look at the girl. "Really?"

As the girl continued talking, Matthiah turned his attention back to the meal and the information he got. Now, he knew for sure that Salamander was somewhere within Hargeon.

After he finished eating the meal, he was about to leave the restaurant when he heard the blonde girl scream.

" **WHAT MADE YOU THINK YOU COULD FIND A DRAGON HERE?!** "

Matthiah turned back to the ensuing conversation. The girl looked shocked beyond her life, and both Natsu and Happy were dumbfounded.

"And you only noticed that _now_?" the former asked.

The girl looked just as dumbfounded after the question. Shaking off her stupor, she reached for her bag and took out some money.

"Well, I better get going." She hurried off. "Good luck finding your 'Igneel'."

Natsu and Happy remained dumbfounded for a while, until they started to tear up. What happened next was in equal parts hilarious and shocking, at least in Matthiah's perspective: the duo bowed down to the girl, screaming, "THANK YOU FOR THE MEAL!" – "THANK YOU!"

As expected, the girl shrieked in surprise and horror. "DON'T! You're embarrassing me…"

Matthiah contained his mirth as the girl continued. "Look, you two helped me as well. That makes us even now, right?"

"B-b-b-but I don't feel like I helped you at all…" Natsu replied.

"Aye, I don't feel right either…" Happy continued. Both of them were still bowing until Natsu got up quickly.

"Wait! I got an idea!" Natsu reached for his bag and searched frantically for something. As he handed it over to Lucy, it became known that the thing was a sheet of paper signed "Salamander".

"Here, you can have this!" The boy stated with a huge grin on his face. Surprisingly, he sounded dead serious, in contrast to the girl's raging reaction, if her swatting down of the paper was any indication.

" **I DON'T WANT THAT!** " The girl screamed before rushing out of the restaurant, pushing aside Matthiah on her way, hurrying off somewhere else in the city.

As he watched her walk away, it occurred to Matthiah that perhaps Salamander might attempt to seduce her again. However, he quickly shook the thought off. _If he's using Charm magic, it's probably because he's bad at conventional seduction. Figures._

Instead, he opted to walk to the port. He remembered hearing that Salamander had a ship docked up in Hargeon's port. It was time to pay the ever-busy Hargeon Port a visit.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

Had Matthiah decided to act on his suspicions, his most likely course of action would have been to stalk Lucy and watch her every move, in case Salamander decided to show up a second time. He would have followed her all the way to the solitary Hargeon Park, where she sat and took out the latest issue of the Weekly Sorcerer magazine.

The magazine was the most prominent piece of press that focused on magic, be it news on the deeds of Magic Guilds around the world, articles on groundbreaking discoveries regarding magical artifacts or powers, or even, for some reason, photos of attractive mages in suggestive poses and revealing outfits.

Right now, Lucy was more focused on the news. Guy Aleus, one of the Iron Equinox guild's most talented mages, had left the guild to join Quatro Cerberus, being the last member of his old mage team to do so. A Dark Guild called Bleeding Crow was taken down by a collaborative effort between Lamia Scale, Black Lotus, Asa Ultimo and Hound Holy. And then, there was the Magic Council with another project: to annex the Ireugan Isles to the south into their watch, meaning, among other things, that the peculiar forms of magic employed by its inhabitants are now considered legal.

And _then_ , there were the news of the guild Fairy Tail. A renowned guild among Fiore for having strong and capable mages among their ranks, that same guild was frequently under a lot of flak for their destructive antics.

The article in question talked about the Devons, a crime family that dedicated itself to the business of smuggling lacrima-powered weapons. It said that a lone mage from the guild took out the entire family, and their security, but also destroyed nine houses belonging to the townspeople. Still, the article made a point of noticing that the fall of the Devons will affect other smuggling parties negatively.

Of course, it didn't stop Lucy from laughing like a madwoman at the scenario.

She turned the page, being greeted by the image of a beautiful woman with white hair and blue eyes in a bikini lying in a lake in the middle of a tropical island. A small text box in a corner of the page read 'Mirajane Strauss, Fairy Tail'.

 _Mirajane. I wonder if someone like her would be as reckless…_ Lucy asked herself. _Actually, I wonder how does one exactly join Fairy Tail… Learning some strong magics? Going through interviews? Or do I just have to tell them I want to join and then it's all done?_

"Fairy Tail," she said out loud. "It's the best guild."

"Oh, now I see." A voice from behind her started speaking. "You want to join Fairy Tail."

Startled, she turned around to see a very familiar figure erupting from a bush. One man she didn't want to see again.

"Salamander!" Lucy screamed in surprise.

Salamander himself looked slightly tired. "Wow, I've spent nearly all day looking for you." He said, ignoring Lucy's remark. "I've been hoping I could invite such a beautiful lady like you into my party tonight."

" _What?_ " Lucy asked in total disbelief. It was certainly an awful shocker when a man who employs magic to win over people's hearts had his sight set on you, as she found out.

However, she wasn't going to fall for it again. "Before you even think about trying anything, just know that the weakness of your Charm is nothing other than 'understanding'." She started up. "I know that you're using that magic, so don't even think about using it anymore."

Salamander, surprisingly enough, didn't seem disappointed, or angry. Instead, his smile widened even more. "Ha, I knew it! Ever since our eyes met, I had figured out you were an actual mage. Well, don't worry. I'll be simply satisfied if you would just be present at the party."

Lucy still stood defiant. "Don't start thinking, for even one moment, that I would go to such a horrible person's party."

Salamander looked confused. "How am I a horrible person, exactly?"

"I'm talking about your Charm magic." Lucy replied. "Are you willing to go so low in order to become that popular?"

"Oh, so that's what you're talking about!" Salamander laughed it off. "Ah, no. That's only a sort of trial. I'm planning on becoming really popular with the party itself, you see."

Lucy merely sighed and turned her back on the pitiful representation of a man she was talking to. "You're just an idiot. And you're not even close to becoming a popular mage, with the way you're headed." She walked away.

Salamander started running. "H-hey, now wait a second! You said you wanted to join a guild, right? Fairy Tail?"

Those words has the intended effect. Lucy stopped immediately and turned to the fire mage. "Uhhh…"

"Well, then I must ask: have you ever heard of the fabled Salamander… from _Fairy Tail_?" He asked.

"I… I have!" Lucy blurted out. Only then did Salamander's words hit her with the strength of an axe chopping open a log.

"YOU'RE A FAIRY TAIL MAGE?"

"Why, yes!" Salamander calmly replied. "If you ever want to join, I'll be sure to talk to the master. I'm sure he'll agree to have you among us."

During the past few hours since meeting Salamander for the first time, Lucy had thoroughly convinced herself that the man before her was a thoroughly despicable man, and his use of Charm was more than enough proof for her.

Right now, all that hard work went down the metaphorical drain as she ran straight into the mage, as smitten as she was a few hours back. "The party is going to be wonderful, isn't it?" she asked excitedly.

Salamander sighed good-naturedly. "Wow, you are a really easy person to understand…"

"Am I going to really join Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked.

"Of course you will." Salamander stated. "Just be sure not to tell anyone about Charm, okay?"

"Sure I won't!" Lucy raised her hand happily.

"Well then, we're all set!" Salamander walked away. "Just don't be late for the party!"

"Okay!" Lucy agreed.

She stood there giggling for a few good minutes until she realized what had happened.

"WHAT THE —DID I JUST FALL FOR A PSEUDO- _CHARM_?" Lucy aptly worded it out. However, the fact that she was set on her way to join Fairy Tail compensated it all in her opinion, and she jumped in joy, relishing in the thought.

She giggled. _And all I have to do is act friendly around that idiot…_

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

A good few hours later, way after the sun had set, Matthiah paced through Hargeon, his eyes set on the luxurious ship dominated by the lights and sound of music. Pianoes, most likely.

He had identified the ship as Salamander's a few hours earlier, when he noticed the enormous amount of women crowding around the ship screaming about 'Salamander-sama'. When he took a good look at the ship, he asked himself how did the rogue mage actually get a ship like that.

 _I mean, I could perfectly live like a king in that huge-ass ship._

He leaned over the lookout to look at the night sky when he heard someone say, "Aaah, now that was a good meal."

Recognizing the voice, he turned to his right to see the pink-haired boy, Natsu, walking in his direction, followed by the talking blue cat, Happy, who simply replied "Aye."

The cat was walking on the stone support like it was a walkway. Suddenly, he turned in the ship's direction. "Oh yeah, didn't Salamander say he was hosting a party on a ship? I wonder if that's the one."

Natsu immediately leaned over, trying not to vomit. "Makes me sick, just looking at it…"

"Aw, don't start getting sick just by imagining." Happy chided.

"You know, I never liked the guy anyway." Matthiah decided to jump in. "Salamander, that is."

"Oh?" Natsu and Happy turned to look at him. "Why?"

"He just… rubs me off the wrong way." Matthiah replied. "I heard rumors that there was a mage who seduced lots of women around the country. I've been doing some research. Turns out, it's the same damn guy."

"Huh. Yeah." Natsu said. "Me and my friend Happy were talking with a girl who said he used some kinda magic to get people's hearts… Charm?"

"Yeah. That's the one." Matthiah agreed. "By the way, I believe we haven't met before. Matthiah Hawkes, traveler and nomadic crime-fighting mage." He jokingly introduced himself.

"Oh! I'm Natsu." The boy introduced himself in return. "This here is my friend, Happy. We're both mages, too. Guild mages."

Matthiah's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really? I've been considering joining a guild as of lately."

It wasn't a lie; taking Salamander out was the final lone job Matthiah decided to take. He usually took jobs with good pay, as his nomadic lifestyle tended to make him amass money for basic necessities, like food, clothing, hygiene… sometimes, he rented a house for a couple of weeks, and offered to contribute in any housekeeping activities during these periods.

But, as of lately, Matthiah was tired of moving around. He was looking for a place to call home. He deduced that a Magic Guild could do the trick.

"So, what's your guild?" Matthiah proceeded to ask.

"Fairy Tail." Happy replied. Matthiah instantly remembered the gulid's reputation as one of the most destructive guilds. While not evil, its mages were known to end up causing a _lot_ of collateral damage while fulfilling requests.

 _Oh well, maybe I can vary things up a little._

"Ha! Maybe I'll join within the next few days." Matthiah stated. "For now, I got an urgent matter to attend to. It's in Magnolia, right?"

Before Natsu could reply, a girl's voice made itself heard. "Oh my God, _look!_ It's Salamander-sama's ship!"

All three turned around to see a girl pointing at the ship, talking excitedly to her friend. "I wanted to go to the party too."

Her friend, however, looked confused. "Who's Salamander?"

The first girl looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? He's that famous mage who's now in town! I even heard he's a mage from Fairy Tail!"

Matthiah looked back at Natsu. "Is she fucking _serious?_ " When Natsu and Happy looked at him, he asked, "Natsu, do you know _any_ Salamander in Fairy Tail?"

"I do…" Natsu replied. "But… that's _me._ "

Matthiah was now the one taken aback. "But… you don't have blue hair. Or funny markings around your eye, either."

"Of course I don't!" Natsu screamed in reply. "I've never even seen him in Fairy Tail!" He was, Matthiah noted, furious enough to start stomping the ground in anger. It reminded him of a child throwing a temper tantrum.

In other circumstances, he might have considered it funny. But now, he was more focused on knowing why would Salamander take the name of a guild he wasn't affiliated with.

And mainly, whoever he was.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

Aboard the ship, the general feel in the atmosphere was not what one would expect when most of the host's fans composed a crowd of insane cheering fangirls.

Serene music dominated the party, with the guests themselves (mostly women) chatting amicably in groups of twos, threes and fours. The things that were being discussed varied from politics to mundane issues like the weather.

In a private room, Lucy, wearing a dark violet dress, and Salamander sat, talking with each other.

"So, Lucy?" The latter asked. "That's a beautiful name."

"Thank you." The girl replied, smiling.

Salamander picked a bottle of wine. "Before we continue, let's toast with a glass of wine." He said as he poured the liquid in two glasses.

Lucy shifted uneasily in her couch. "You have other girls to attend to as well."

"I know." Salamander replied. "But right now, I simply feel like drinking only with you."

He snapped his fingers, and at his command, the wine in Lucy's glass rose and split into several dark globes.

"Now, if you would, try opening your mouth." Salamander beckoned. "These pearls of wine will slowly come in."

Lucy's jaw dropped in dismay. _This is ANNOYING!_

Regaining her composure, she waited for the wine globes to approach. _Come on, Lucy, you need to be patient. Remember, be patient…_

However, as the first globe was about to enter her mouth, she immediately realized something was amiss.

Slapping away the globes of wine, she quickly rose up and confronted Salamander with an accusing glare.

" _What are you doing?_ " She asked vindictively.

At the fire mage's confused expression, she continued. "That was a sleeping drug… wasn't it?"

Salamander rose his hands. "And how did you realize?"

Ignoring the question, Lucy spoke up. "Now, don't get me wrong. I _want_ to join Fairy Tail. But I'm not willing to become your plaything until the day comes."

In reply, Salamander grinned. It was not like his previous smiles, filled with heat and confidence. No, this was an expression of pure malice.

"Tsk tsk tsk… you are a _very_ bad girl…" He whispered. "If only you deigned to sleep peacefully, you would have never gotten hurt."

As if on cue, Lucy felt her arms being forcefully grabbed by a pair of strong hands. She realized there were people behind her.

She turned her head to see exactly four huge men entering the room through the curtain behind her, which she previously thought concealed a simple wall.

The balding man to her right smelled strongly of sweat and alcohol, and had a massive beer gut protruding from his chest. The man to her left had spiky black hair and a freakishly long face, a huge, gashing scar crossing both his cheeks and nose.

Behind her, the last two men appeared to be twins, but where one had a basic black eyepatch covering his right eye, the other had an unclean beard and a mohawk.

"What is this?" She asked, struggling to break free to no avail. "Who _are you?_ "

Salamander stepped forward and grabbed her face by the chin. "And you're welcome to our slave ship. I ask you to remain quiet until we head to Bosco."

"Wha… _Bosco?_ " Lucy asked, horrified. "But… what about Fairy Tail?"

Salamander merely laughed. "I told you this is a slave ship. Not a guild ship." He replied. "From the very beginning, I brought you here to be a slave, so please… shut up."

"Heh. You really thought this out well, Salamander-san." The scarred man said. "Every single time these girls end up affected by Charm, they just want to become our merchandise."

"Yesss." The man with the eyepatch stepped up. "It's just a shame it didn't work on this fine lady here. It seems we'll have to educate her to be that way…"

 _What?..._ Lucy thought in despair. _What_ is _he? How could someone do something like this…?_

Salamander stepped forward, putting a hand under her dress. For one terrible moment, she thought he was going to grope her, but what he actually ended up doing wasn't any better: he took her Celestial Spirit Keys from her.

"Hmm… I see you are a Celestial Spirit mage." The fire mage stated, spinning the keys around his index finger.

"Celestial… what?" The balding man asked in confusion.

"Don't worry." Salamander replied. "This magic only works with contracted mages. Which, obviously, means it's plain damn useless to me." He concluded, throwing the keys out the window, where they landed on the sea with a faint sound.

Lucy lost all hope by this point and was now crying uncontrollably. _This is a mage of Fairy Tail…? No… it's not true. It can't be…_

Salamander picked up a branding iron from under the table and used his fire magic to heat it up. When he was satisfied, he said, "Now, I'm going to brand you as a slave first. It may be a little hot…"

None of them heard the faint sounds of fighting above them.

"…but please try to bear with it. We don't like incessant screaming."

In what Lucy perceived as her final moments as a free person, she said, "Abusing magic… tricking people… dealing in slavery? I don't care what kind of opinion you have of yourself."

The sounds of fighting were stronger, but this time, only Lucy and Salamander couldn't hear it.

"You should be ashamed of calling yourself a mage. No… _you should be ashamed of calling yourself a_ _ **person.**_ "

Immediately after she stopped speaking, the floor above them exploded.

It went too fast for anyone to fully understand. All that they knew was that two new people had hopped in.

With a gasp, Lucy recognized Natsu, but she had no idea who the second person was. Another boy, wearing a black and dark green coat. She noticed that he was a mage, as his fists were glowing, shrouded in some sort of green energy.

"I-it's that brat from earlier!" Salamander screamed. "He's got a friend!"

" _Natsu?_ " Lucy asked incredulously. "Who's that?"

Both Natsu and the newcomer didn't reply. Instead, they stepped towards Salamander and his goons—

-only for Natsu to slump over, overtaken by dizziness. "No, please… I can't take it…"

"EEHHHH?" Lucy shrieked. "Why did you just fall over?"

The newcomer was just as incredulous. "Why does fate play a screwjob on me every time I get help…?" However, he turned back to Salamander, defiant.

"Hey, Lucy!"

The girl looked up to see another familiar face.

"Happy!" She shouted. "He fooled me! He said he'd let me join Fairy Tail and I…"

She noticed that the blue cat now had wings, as he flew down. "Wait. When did you get wings?"

"Long story," Happy replied as he grabbed Lucy's shoulders. "I'll tell you all about it later." He concluded as he flew away.

"W-wait!" What are you going to do with Natsu and the other guy?" She asked.

"I can't carry two people at once, much less three." Happy quickly explained. "Don't worry; I'm sure Matthiah can handle them."

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY!" Lucy heard Salamander scream. As she looked down, she saw a bright red flame headed in their direction.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

In an impulsive gesture, Matthiah raised his arm at the speeding flame and fired a green bolt to halt its progress. As it connected, Salamander and his goons watched in awe as the flame slowly crystallized, falling into the sea shortly after.

The surprise was short-lived, as Salamander turned to the scarred man at his right. "Make sure those two don't get away. As for the rest of you, ice this brat!"

"Right!" – "Yessir!"

The three remaining men rushed at Matthiah, ready to beat the living daylight out of his head.

However, it didn't mean he was going to let them.

As the first man – a fat, balding man – approached, Matthiah coated his left fist in the so-familiar Havok magic that he employed, and swung it towards the man's face.

He grinned as he heard the sound of cracking bones as the augmented strike connected with the man's head and pushed him aside, readying a pulse for the second man. He projected his right arm forward, and the ball of energy hit the bearded man dead in the chest, sending him flying out of the ship.

However, the third man was prepared, as he pulled out a fighting staff. "Don't think you can take me out as easily as you did on these dumbasses. I ain't goin' nowhere near ya."

"Good." Matthiah replied. "I like leaving the smarter ones for last."

His left arm flared, and suddenly, a whip – or was it a tendril? – slowly produced itself out of his palm. Matthiah swung it towards the staff, and pulled on it.

However, the man pulled back.

"So be it." Matthiah concluded as he recalled the whip, dragging the staff and the man with it.

As soon as he was within range, Matthiah thrust his fist right into the poor man's face.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Uh, Lucy?" Happy asked.

" _What?_ " Lucy replied, barely believing Happy could think anything he had to say was more important that dodging the bullets fired upon them.

"You know my transformation magic, the wings?" Happy explained. "It's wearing off."

It definitely was more important.

" **SHITTY CAAAAATT!** " She screamed as they both fell into the waters. Fortunately, she could swim, and that's what she did.

 _Wait. The Celestial Spirit Keys—they're here somewhere!_

She focused all her efforts to search for her Celestial Keys. Fortuitously, they were stuck on a rock close to the surface.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Boss, I think we managed to—"

The scarred man halted when he saw his two of his colleagues down on the floor, clutching their faces and whimpering in pain. And now, Salamander and the boy with the black coat were staring at each other. He couldn't quite discern who was the most angry.

Suddenly, a groan caught all three men's attention.

The pink-haired boy was slowly rising up. He was sick beyond his mind, but he was getting up.

And the glare he shot at Salamander was filled with a primal fury that made all three recoil in fear.

"Fairy… Tail… you… dare…" he said, punctuating every word with a step towards Salamander.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

Lucy emerged from the sea, with Happy hanging on to her neck.

"Here I come." She said, revealing the golden key she held in her right hand. She plunged it into the water, rotating it as one would do to unlock a door.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer…"

The tip of the key started shining brightly. A pure white light shone forth, and a mermaid-like figure arose, holding an urn on her hands.

" **AQUARIUS!** "

The mermaid arose, revealing the full extent of her figure. Turquoise hair surrounded a beautiful, if aggressive, face. Her whole body down to the waist line was just akin to a human's, but below, the also turquoise scales let up that the woman before Lucy and Happy was, indeed, a mermaid.

Happy was too amazed to notice his jaw had dropped right on Lucy's head.

"I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage." Lucy explained. "These keys allow me to open gates to the Celestial World and summon its spirits to fight alongside me." She turned back to the mermaid spirit. "Aquarius, use your power! Send that ship back to the coast!"

Aquarius merely looked at her with a disinterested expression. "Tch."

"WHAT?" Lucy stood flabbergasted. "WHY DID YOU SAY 'TCH'? DON'T START GETTING PICKY ABOUT THIS!"

Aquarius remained with the uninterested face. "You're quite the noisy kid." She closed her eyes as a dome of water surrounded her. "Listen carefully. If you ever, _ever_ , drop the keys again… I'll kill you. _Remember that._ "

"I'm sorry…" Lucy recoiled at Aquarius' words. However, she wasn't prepared for the Celestial Spirit's next move.

As she had commanded, Aquarius forced the ship back to the coast… by summoning a wave big enough to wreck it apart, which also dragged Lucy along, much to her infinite chagrin.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"What just happened?" Salamander asked as he picked himself back up.

"Dunno, sir. Sea was calm, then a giant wave hits our ship out of nowhere!" The scarred man replied, already up.

"It stopped…"

Everyone in the ruins of the room – Salamander, Matthiah and the scarred man – turned to Natsu, who was rising as well. The feeling of sickness seemed to have abandoned him.

"The rumbling. It's stopped."

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Are you _crazy?_ " Lucy asked. "Why did you flush me along as well?"

"My mistake." Aquarius shook her head in mock shame. "I also dragged the ship along as well."

"The ship—you were _aiming at me?_ "

Aquarius' form started to vanish. "Well, that's it. Don't call me for a while, I'm headed to a trip with my boyfriend." A few seconds passed until Aquarius repeated herself. "With my _boyfriend._ " She vanished.

" **Don't bother repeating!** " She screamed at empty air. "She's such a selfish bitch…"

"Wow." Happy said. "Guess the two of you don't get along much, am I right?"

"No…" Lucy replied before looking at the town. "But we did it! Once the military learns what happened, all the other girls will be safe and sound!" She held her hands, her eyes twinkling. "God, I'm such a nice person!"

"Yeah—Wait!" Happy hurried into the ship. "We've forgot Natsu!"

Lucy quickly followed Happy into the ship. In no time, they had already reached the room.

"Natsu!" Lucy called. "Are you OK?"

Natsu was facing Salamander and the scarred man, not paying attention to her question. However, the black-clad boy – _Matthiah_ – looked at them, raising his thumb up.

"You brats…" Salamander scratched his chin. "You shouldn't go board other people's ships without permission, hmm?"

Natsu's glare intensified.

"Hey, Rekkon," Salamander said to the scarred man. "Throw them out. Quickly."

"Yes, sir." Rekkon replied, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh, no." Lucy stepped in. "I'm going to take care of this—"

"No need." Happy interrupted. "I kinda forgot to tell you, but Natsu is a mage as well."

Lucy just stared at Happy, completely taken by surprise.

Meanwhile, Natsu just walked calmly, uncaring in regards to Rekkon. "Are you a mage of Fairy Tail?"

"So?" Salamander smugly asked back. "What about it?"

"Let me take a good look at you." Natsu replied as another goon rushed in, ready to attack Natsu.

Unfortunately, he was quickly swept aside by the boy.

"I'm Natsu from Fairy Tail!" He announced. "And I've never seen you before!"

"Whaat?..." Lucy was completely taken aback, and so was Salamander. Matthiah, however, simply grinned, crossing his arms.

To prove his point, Natsu took off his coat, revealing a black sleeveless undershirt. The guild mark of Fairy Tail, bright red, was there, on his left shoulder.

"That symbol…" Rekkon noticed. Panicking, he turned to Salamander. "B-bora-san! He's not lying!"

"You IDIOT!" Salamander, or rather, Bora, screamed. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!"

"Bora?" Matthiah asked, uncrossing his arms. "Bora of Prominence?" His grin faded. "You were banished from the Magic Guild Titan Nose several years ago."

"I've heard of him!" Lucy remembered. "He got caught committing several crimes with magic, that's why he got banished!"

Bora was absolutely livid.

"I don't care if you're bad or a good person…" Natsu stated. "… but I can't forgive you for using our name."

" _Whatever._ " Bora muttered before setting Natsu in flames. "You're just a stupid brat, anyway."

" _NATSU!_ " Lucy hurried to try and help, but was blocked by Happy's wings. Matthiah looked at Lucy, and shook his head.

Bora started to laugh, until Natsu's voice came out of the flames. " _Awful._ "

Suddenly, the inferno surrounding Natsu began to shrink in size, much to Lucy and Bora's surprise.

"You call yourself a fire mage?" The boy asked. "I doubt it. I've never tasted a fire this bad."

The flames began to vanish, revealing that Natsu was actually _eating_ the fire. Lucy, Bora, Rekkon and Matthiah had their jaws drop at the startling scenario before them.

As soon as Natsu finished eating the flames, he said, "Anyway, thank you for the food."

"What…?" Salamander struggled to find words. "What _are_ YOU?"

"Did he just _eat_ the fire?" Rekkon asked in total disbelief.

"Fire doesn't exactly work on Natsu." Happy explained.

"I've never seen this kind of magic before!" Lucy freaked out.

"You've never told me you could actually _eat_ fire!" Matthiah freaked out as well.

Natsu flared up and reared his head, opening his mouth. A fireball began to form inside. " _Here I come._ "

"I've heard of something like this before." Rekkon stated mostly to himself. "No… it can't be…" He turned to Bora. "Bora-san, _I've seen him before!_ "

"WHAT?" Bora screamed.

"Yeah!" The scarred man replied. "Pink hair, scale-ish scarf, fire magic… there's no doubt… _He's the real Salamander!_ "

To punctuate, Natsu did what everyone thought unthinkable. He started roaring out a massive amount of fire, like a flamethrower of the gods, spraying both Bora and Rekkon without mercy, to Lucy and Matthiah's (understandably) shocked expressions.

Natsu quickly stopped the stream of fire, and lit his fist. "Damn right. So remember it well."

Before anyone could register these words, he rushed towards Bora. "This is the power of a Fairy Tail Mage!"

The fiery fist's impact reverberated across the room, in conjunction with Bora's scream of pain. He was projected against the wooden wall, which he broke upon impact.

"Eating fire… punching with fire…" Lucy said, face painted with shock.

"Is he actually using magic?" Matthiah asked. "Or is it something else?"

"A fire dragon's lungs are able to bring out fire." Happy explained. "Its scales brush off even the hottest infernos, and its claws are imbued with the very essence of fire. It's a magic that changes the caster's constitution to something akin to a dragon... Dragon Slayer magic."

"Right." Matthiah looked on in amazement. "So that's what it is."

"Aye. Igneel, King of the Fire Dragons, taught Natsu this magic personally."

"It's still a little weird that a dragon would teach a human Dragon Slayer magic, isn't it?" Lucy asked in confusion.

The question caught Happy completely off-guard. "Wha-? But that's what happened!"

"Eh, there must have been plenty of reasons." Matthiah said. "Don't know about them, but… there must be. Right?"

"Maybe." Lucy agreed.

A loud 'boom' caught everyone's attention. Lucy, Happy and Matthiah looked to see Natsu was using Bora as a club, smashing him around the port and destroying everything, allowing chaos to set in.

"Hey, what the—"

"YOU'RE OVERDOING IT!" Lucy screamed out. "The port's a complete mess now!"

"Aye." Happy calmly replied.

"DON'T GIVE ME AN 'AYE'!" Lucy turned on Happy.

Natsu released Bora, who merely whimpered, "Everything hurts…"

Before anyone could recompose themselves from the hectic turn of events, they heard a new voice: "What is all this ruckus?"

Everyone turned to see a burly man in armor, followed by a contingent of soldiers armed with crystal-tipped spears.

"It's the milita—HEY!"

Natsu grabbed Lucy and ran away from the guards, followed along by Matthiah.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?" She screamed out loud.

"You wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" Natsu simply asked in return. "The two of you?"

Lucy and Matthiah's reactions were different: While hers held a mix of disbelief and a bit of hope, Matthiah's grin was basically saying 'hell yes'.

"Then come with me."

Together, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Matthiah fled from the guards and Hargeon Town, towards Magnolia.

The town where Fairy Tail awaited.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _The next day…_

"Fairy Tail did it again." The Second Seat, Org, announced as he laid down a newspaper on the table. The dominant article spoke about the destruction of Hargeon Town's port by a group of mages. "Half the port was destroyed. Who can believe that?"

"We should send the Rune Corps pressing down on them." Michello groaned. "If we don't, who can bet the next thing they do is make a town disappear?"

"Don't jinx it." Leiji replied. "They might just do that, you know?"

"Even then, they did it to arrest the slaver, Bora." Yussef intervened. "And from what I hear, he was using Fairy Tail's name. So, maybe it was deserved."

"Yeah…" Siegrain stepped in. "I'm taking a liking to them."

"You!" Michello replied. "Shut up!"

"Why?" Kron asked. "Yes, they are a destructive bunch. But, it's also true that they have some of the best mages around."

"Yes." Old Hogg agreed. "It's quite the complicated issue we have on our hands."

"So?" Siegrain calmly smiled. "Just let them be."

"WHAT?" Michello stood flabbergasted.

"Yeah. If we never had those idiots around, can you image how _boring_ this world would be?"


	2. Introduction: Monkey, Bull, Salamander

_**A/N: Took a while. But here it is, the 2nd chapter! Don't forget to review, be it good or bad. Remember, anything you have on your mind about this fic, if you think it can help, don't be afraid to say it.**_

* * *

 _ **Magnolia Town, Fiore, Earthland**_

"Whoa…" Lucy muttered in awe.

Two days of running were tiring, but after seeing the building before them, both her and Matthiah, the newcomers, instantly thought it was worth it.

In basic layman's terms, the building looked like a cross between a house and a tower. It had several floors, each one getting smaller the higher up they were. At the very top, a flag bearing the guild's symbol waved proudly.

The massive doors made up the shape of a leaf. Above them, an ornate sign with sculptures of fairies on either side read 'FAIRY TAIL'.

Lucy was wordless towards its magnificence, but Matthiah, who looked just as awed, had at least one word to describe it.

"Big."

"Welcome to Fairy Tail." Happy announced.

The doors were already open, revealing a wide array of tables and people. Given that it was lunch time, the sounds of ravenous eating were pouring out in large amounts.

 _I wonder if that's why Natsu eats so wildly._ Lucy thought to herself as she took her first steps inside Fairy Tail, with Natsu and Matthiah behind her.

The massive guild's hall was filled with wide wooden tables, with many people – members of the guild – eating from the ginormous amounts of food on them. Matthiah took notice of two men, one with an exaggeratedly large jacket and a hat to match and another with a slim build and a haircut resembling a plant stem talking loudly while chowing down on a massive roasted boar-like animal.

Of course, given that the rest of the guild was just as loud, it simply was impossible to hear what they were saying.

Still, he and Lucy managed to hear one guild mage call out, "Mira-chaan! Three beers this way, please!"

Matthiah was still busy admiring the surroundings when Lucy pulled his arm. " _Look!_ Isn't that…?"

He saw Lucy was pointing at the serving girl. Since her back was turned to them, all he managed to discern from her was the fact that she had white hair and a curvy shape.

"Yeah. What's so special about…" He trailed off as the girl turned her head, allowing him to understand what Lucy meant. "…oh."

As it turned out, the serving girl was none other than the famous model, Mirajane Strauss. While Matthiah normally didn't pay attention to names when it came to models, Mirajane was one of the exceptions. _Lucy must be a fan._

They paid attention to her and noticed an older man smoking a cigarette calling her. "Mira-chan?"

"Yes?" They heard the supermodel/serving girl ask.

The man blew out a puff of smoke in reply, which took the form of a heart.

"Let's go out on a date, next time." He begged, hearts of smoke pouring out of his mouth.

"Goddamnit, Wakaba, cut it off." A man dressed in black combat armor replied. He had also black hair and a stubble which was almost a beard on its own right. "Plus, I hate the smell of your smoke."

Mirajane merely sighed. It appeared this was a common occurrence. She closed her eyes, and then, she began to _morph_ right before their very eyes. Her body became pudgier and her face acquired almost comical amounts of make-up.

"Remind me: you have a wife, don't you?" She asked. Even her voice had changed; she now sounded like a fifty year-old woman.

Obviously, Wakaba wasn't all too appreciative of the change in looks, judging from his traumatized expression.

"Oh, _please_ , don't turn into my wife again!" He begged again, to the laughs of his guildmates.

Natsu took the opportunity to announce his arrival. " **We're here!** "

Everyone turned around to look at the new arrivals.

"Natsu, Happy, welcome back." Mirajane greeted.

"Oh, man, you really overdid it again, didn't you?" A mage with rodent-like teeth called out to Natsu, who recognized him as Krov. "We've read about the Hargeon incident on the news—"

Natsu dashed off towards him, with a predatory look on his face, and jumped forward, ready to kick him in the face.

"—paper?" Krov finished moments before Natsu's sole hit him straight in the face.

"YOU BASTARD!" Natsu screamed out. "THAT INFORMATION YOU HAD ON SALAMANDER WAS **FAKE!** "

"Oh my." Mirajane calmly stated. "With Natsu back, the guild is sure to get chaotic soon." She smiled.

" _Soon?_ " Wakaba asked. "It's already chaotic!"

Lucy and Matthiah soon confirmed the veracity of that statement by looking around the guild.

For some reason, as soon as Natsu kicked Krov straight in the face, the guild had changed from friendly, if loud, talks, to violent brawling. The two newcomers merely stood there watching.

"Looks like we actually made it to Fairy Tail." Lucy sighed.

"What tipped you off?" Matthiah asked. "Must have been the chaos, no doubt."

"Hey, did Natsu come back already?"

The newcomers turned around to see another mage entering the guild. He had spiky, dark blue hair and a muscular body, a dark blue Fairy Tail mark on his right pectoral. Much to Matthiah and Lucy's horror and disgust, he was also stark naked.

"Hey, Natsu!" He called out. "We still got that last fight to settle, punk!"

"Gray…" another mage, this time a brunette girl wearing jeans and a bra, called. "Please don't tell me you've been walking around all day like that."

"Wha— _shit!_ " Gray cursed as he saw his own state of undress.

"He's just another one of those undignified guys." The brunette said, shortly before hoisting up a huge barrel of beer and drinking from it, startling the newcomers again. "The kind that I really hate."

"Yeah, well, you've not exactly a model of dignity per se, Cana." Behind her, another girl, with shoulder-length black hair (with a thin white line) , bronze-colored eyes and wearing a sleeveless black and white shirt, replied with a mischievous smile. "You drink more than the folks at Bosco, and that's saying something."

Cana looked at her with an unamused expression. Among the sounds of fighting, the sound of Gray screaming "Come and fight me, Natsu!" could be heard.

"Come back once you put on some clothes, first!" The reply came back.

"Trash." A deep, rumbling voice rang out from behind Matthiah and Lucy for the second time. They turned around once more to see an enormous, bulky man with a tanned complexion, white hair and a stitched scar running down from his right eye, wearing a black coat.

"Why are you all yapping around in the middle of the day?" The man asked. "You know you're not little kids…" He shoved the two newcomers aside. "SO FIGHT WITH YOUR FISTS IF YOU WISH TO PROVE YOU ARE MEN!"

He was quickly sent flying by a combined punch from Natsu and Gray.

"It's getting really noisy around here."

Lucy quickly identified the source of the voice: a handsome man with orange hair and orange-tinted glasses and a green coat with white fur lining the hood.

"Oh. My. GOD!" Lucy repressed a squee of joy as she recognized him: Loke, considered by the Sorcerer Weekly magazine to be the top mage a girl would want as a boyfriend. His female equivalent was Reisha Whiteday, of the Hound Holy guild.

She was going to try and talk to him when she suddenly took notice of the fact that he already had a girl on either side. She immediately picked her magazine and a pen out of her bag, crossing Loke's name out of the list's page.

"I'm going to join their fight, ladies." He said to the girls.

"Good luuuck!" The girls cheered him on.

She dropped to the ground.

"Uh, ok, I get it, it's a freaky place." Matthiah said after passively watching it all. "But there's no reason to get desperate. At least, I hope so…"

"There's something wrong with this place." Lucy sullenly replied. "None of these people are normal!"

"My, are you newcomers?"

Lucy sprang back up to notice Mirajane had decided to talk to them, the soon-to-be new members of the Guild.

In the middle of the bar brawl.

"M-M-Mirajane?"

Much to Matthiah's amusement, Lucy began fawning over the model/serving girl for a few moments in the same way he had seen many girls fawn over Bora. _Only, Mirajane doesn't really need to use Charm._

However, she quickly snapped back to reality. "Shouldn't you be stopping them?" She asked, pointing to the main brawl, involving Natsu, Gray, Loke and several other mages, including the mage in black combat armor.

"Ah, that?" Mirajane questioned. "There's no need to worry. It happens all the time."

She probably expected her explanation to calm down the newcomers, but neither Lucy nor Matthiah looked relaxed. In fact, both were freaked out that these brawls were common occurrences.

"And besides—"

Whatever she was about to say was interrupted as the glass bottle hit her in the side of the head. The impact was strong enough to knock her down.

"MIRAJANE-SAN!" Lucy screamed.

"Aw, come on!" Matthiah looked on in disbelief as he prepared to check Mirajane's head. "Where's a doctor when you need one the most?"

Mirajane quickly got up as if it were nothing, further creeping out both of them.

"Isn't it fun this way?" She asked, smiling.

 _It's completely SCARY, that's what it is!_ Lucy thought.

"Well, maybe you can find it fun, but when you're, you know, bleeding from the head, it's usually not." Matthiah replied. "For your information."

Suddenly, Gray was flying into a table, crashing violently and splintering it.

Matthiah, Lucy and Mirajane turned to see a grinning Natsu holding a pair of boxers, which they assumed Gray found lying around. Indeed, Gray's scream of shock all but confirmed it.

"WHERE'S MY DAMN UNDERWEAR?"

"AAHH!" Lucy screamed again. She was facing Gray, so she probably had gotten an unwanted look at the naked mage's privates. "DON'T FACE THIS WAY!"

It was then that he noticed her. "Excuse me, miss, " he asked. "Could you please lend me your underwear—"

"NO WAY!" Lucy punched him square in the face, and found herself being lifted off soon after.

"Hmm, unelegant people are so bothersome, right?" She heard Loke's voice. With a gasp, she realized Loke was holding her. "By the way, are you from any modeling agency around?"

"W-W-Wha…?!" Lucy stammered.

Meanwhile, both the black armored mage and the hulking man were thrown at Matthiah's general direction. He rushed to help them up.

"Thanks, kid." The former said. The latter, however, wasn't as thankful.

"MEN FIGHT WITH **FISTS!** " He rushed back to the fight, only to be punched by the black-armored mage.

"And we say, get the _hell_ out!" The latter screamed, much to Natsu and Gray's approval.

Yet, in the middle of the fight, one person wasn't enjoying it.

"You are all miserably noisy." Cana muttered. "I can't even drink peacefully." She sighed in irritation before drawing a card from her pocket.

"It's time to end this." She stated as the card began to glow red.

Behind her, the mischievous-looking girl stood up and raised her hand. Around her, small particles started shining, almost like crystals. "Not the best day to be around, eh...?"

Gray immediately closed his right hand and placed it on his open palm, making a clear blue glow. "Now I've had enough."

Next to him, the hulking man howled as his right arm was surrounded by white arcs of magic.

The black-armored mage suddenly cloaked himself in what appeared to be shadows. "So _that's_ how it ends?..."

"Troublesome bunch…" Loke quietly said as he placed a glowing ring on his right index finger.

"COME AND GET ME!" Natsu defiantly called out, his fists cloaked in fire.

"Oh, no…" Matthiah quietly said to himself.

" _Magic?_ " Lucy asked, fearful of what could happen next.

Even Mirajane was getting nervous, even though she was still smiling. "Well, this is getting a bit too intense…"

" **That's enough!** "

Another figure made his presence known by merely stepping. Said figure was a gigantic man, far bigger than any other person in the guild, nearly the size of the guild building itself.

" **It's time to cut it out, pack of idiots!** "

The immensity of the man before them made Lucy and Matthiah shiver in fear. The guild members themselves didn't look as afraid, but one had to note that the sudden bar brawl went cold in an instant.

Mirajane was definitely unfazed by the sudden change, still smiling serenely. "Master! You were here all along?"

The newcomers' jaws dropped in unison.

One by one, the guild members ceased hostilities and went back to doing whatever it was that they were doing then or doing other things: Cana went back to drinking, Loke started hugging the two girls again, Gray went looking for his clothes…

…and Natsu started laughing, unaware of the master's presence behind him.

"What? You got scared?" He asked. "HA! This battle's my—"

The master promptly trampled him underfoot.

"—win…" He still managed to let out.

It was then that the master noticed Mirajane, accompanied by Lucy and Matthiah.

"Hm?" He asked. "Newcomers, I believe."

"Y-Yes…" – "Yeah."

In reply, the titan started to growl angrily, scaring Lucy and Matthiah, who were bracing themselves for a world of hurt, until they noticed that the figure started _shrinking_ , and shrinking, until he was as tall as the newcomers' knees.

"Then, welcome to Fairy Tail!" The master, an affable-looking old man wearing what looked like a blue and orange pajama and a goofy-looking hat, greeted. "I'm master Makarov Dreyar."

Both Matthiah and Lucy's jaws dropped in unison at seeing the "true form" of the man before them. In the beginning, neither believed that the old man would be able to inspire such loyalty among the guild members. Especially when he was wearing what looked like _pajamas._

 _Must be why he uses magic to grow bigger…_ Lucy thought.

Then, surprisingly for a man his age, Makarov jumped high, backflipping towards the upper floor's wooden railing, where he accidentally smacked his head. He took his time to recompose before standing high on the railing.

"You've gone and done it again, fools." He warned. "I received these documents from the Magic Council saying exactly what you've been doing over these past few weeks." He began to read the first page. "All right, first off… _Gray._ "

Gray was dressing up when he heard his name, promptly looking up.

"Good job at crashing down Ixhern Accron's counterfeiting operation." The master praised. "However, it says here that you started walking around town _naked_. And as if that wasn't enough, you had to go and **steal underwear while it was still drying.** "

Gray stood dismayed. "But… wouldn't it be _worse_ if I was still naked?"

Next to him, the hulking man stared at him, surprise etched into his features. "Then try to _not_ get naked. It's as simple as that."

Makarov sighed dejectedly and moved on. "Elfman…"

The hulking man immediately paid rapt attention.

"You were supposed to escort a VIP to Timbre, Minstrel's capital, but ended up assaulting him. Why, exactly?"

"Well…" Elfman began to say. "Halfway through the trip, he started saying things like, 'The only real men are those who know of culture, and not hulking brainless masses'. Not like I disagreed with the first part, but he struck some nerves with the second, you know?"

Makarov facepalmed, while the other members of Fairy Tail sighed in disapproval or, strangely, boredom.

"Very well, moving on… Cana." Makarov proceeded. "Now, I know some of us have the tendency to do… rash actions, but what exactly compelled you to drink about 15 barrels of beer and _charging it on the Council?_ "

The only thing everyone heard Cana say was, "They know already?..."

"Regardless, some of the Councillors actually found it funny. Siegrain and Yussef paid for the barrels, and Kron paid for 15 more, according to this document, because he wants it to _happen again_." Makarov explained. "Makes me wonder if this Council is any worth… anyway, next up, the _only_ S-Class mage mentioned here, Gideon."

The mage in black combat armor looked up in surprise. "Wait, wha—what did I do?"

"I know the townspeople hailed you after taking out the Withered Life cult near Malba Town." Makarov patiently said. "Doesn't change the fact that half the city was destroyed in the process, as the mayor said."

"Yeah… you can't do much when a cultist decides to destroy the west portion of a city." Gideon stated before muttering, "That mayor-faced son of a—"

"Next, Litha." Makarov interrupted Gideon's cursing spree before it even began. "You have this tendency to tease people in any way possible, and we all know that. Just try not to do it with the envoys from Umbreos. They did _not_ appreciate you sending letters making fun of their hats, and you know how prideful they are."

The mischievous-looking girl hanged her head dejectedly. "Make one stupid mistake, and they never let you live it down…"

"Loke," The guild master called out. "While protecting Councillor Leiji, you apparently slept with his granddaughters. Is this true?"

"…yeah." Loke muttered in reply.

Makarov shook his head. "And, of course, _Natsu._ " He almost keeled over as he read the document. "You did manage to completely ruin the Devons' operations for good, but you also destroyed _nine houses_ belonging to the housepeople, leveled a historical clocktower at the Tully Village two weeks ago, burned down a church at Freesia, single-handedly caused a near-collapse of the Shepherd's Purse Ravine Observatory, leading to a full stop on its operations, and… **destroying half of Hargeon's port**."

"Wow," Lucy said to Matthiah. "Natsu's responsible for most of the incidents reported in Sorcerer Weekly…"

"Yeah, compared to him, the others almost sound like small fry. _Almost_." The fellow newcomer agreed.

"… and we also have complaints regarding Alzack, Bisca, Levy, Krov, Mikuni, Yuriah, Warren, Mya, Leonard, Kaitlyn, Casyor, and Reedus." Makarov finished. He looked at his guild mages with a determined expression, and a slight hint of anger. "Do you have any idea how much the Magic Council targets me because of you?"

All of the mages fell in silence, with expressions like they were attending a funeral for an acquaintance. Lucy and Matthiah, for a moment, thought Makarov would hulk out again and deliver a mouthful of angry admonishments.

As such, they were surprised when the guild master started smiling.

"But you know what?" He asked. " _Screw the Councillors_."

As he spoke, the documents in his hand started burning, the fire being undoubtedly caused by Makarov, who threw the makeshift fireball at Natsu. The Dragon Slayer instantly jumped to eat it in joy.

"Remember this: the power we have, the power that can overpower reason, is born from reason itself." Makarov began talking. "Our magic, there are some who call it a miracle. They are wrong."

Some of the guild mages began to look up, their faces showing not remorse, but something akin to determination.

"It is, rather, a connection. A connection formed between your energy, and the energy of nature." The guild master continued. "Something achieved only if you dedicate your mind, heart, body and soul to developing it. Something you can only achieve, and strengthen, if you dedicate yourselves."

Makarov's speech had an effect on the guild members from the beginning, but now it was already starting to get the two newcomers' attention as well.

"And if we allow ourselves to become intimidated by the ever-watchful eyes above, then we won't get any stronger, and we won't be able to grow as mages. So I say, let's not fear the thirteen that rule the Magic Council, and let's do what we believe is right!"

The Fairy Tail mages started cheering on, Matthiah and Lucy included.

"BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE DO! THE PATH OF A FAIRY TAIL MAGE!"

In under a minute, Makarov had managed to change the mood in the guild from depressive to festive. Everywhere the two newcomers looked, there were only mages cheering and laughing.

In under five minutes, Makarov defused a mass brawl among nearly all of the Fairy Tail mages.

If there was one thought that was spread throughout Lucy and Matthiah's heads, it was the following:

 _Looks like I made the right choice, after all._

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

For anyone who lived at the part of Magnolia where Fairy Tail's building was located, it was plausible to think that a good night's sleep would be impossible. However, everyone there was used to the seemingly eternal sound of laughing, eating, and talking out loud that normally settled in at night.

Natsu was eating a special meal prepared with a little help from one of the members, Niggy: Fire Meals. Essentially, it was normal food, but certain mages could imbue food with various types of magic, fire included. In this particular case, the food didn't burn away; the fire was there simply to add "flavor".

Most people couldn't eat food that was literally on fire. But, then again, most people weren't Natsu.

"So, let me get this straight." Krov, the mage who Natsu had kicked in the face a few hours earlier, said. "You're telling me that the Fire Dragon Salamander I've been hearing about… is none other than YOU?" He asked.

"Yeah." Natsu replied.

"HA!" Krov laughed. "Well, in hindsight, I should've thought of that. What with employing dragon fire and causing mass destruction and all that…"

"Well, if Natsu is Salamander, then I'm gonna become… Cat-Mander!" Happy proudly proclaimed, raising his fist.

"Cat-Mande…? Oh, come on, _really?_ " Matthiah laughed. He had spent the last hours since getting the dark green guild mark on the back of his neck (he wanted it on his actual back, but was more than a bit flustered when he learned Mirajane was going to imprint the mark, and opted for his neck out of pure shyness), he began to get along with several of the Fairy Tail's mages, mainly the S-Class mage Gideon Karlos and his team, Oblivion Cross, and Litha Blackhart, the mischievous girl who normally acted by herself. "What's the big deal with '-mander', anyway?"

Nearby, Lucy was about to receive her guild mark, and had asked for the color pink.

"And you want it here, right?" Mirajane asked, pointing at the back of Lucy's right hand.

"Yeah!" Lucy replied excitedly.

Mirajane proceeded to pick up a magic stamp to mark Lucy's hand.

After all was said and done, the newest member of Fairy Tail ran to Natsu's table in a hurry.

"Natsu, Natsu, look!" She called out.

The Dragon Slayer looked up as she explained. "Mirajane gave me the mark of Fairy Tail!"

"Really?" Natsu asked. "Nice for you, Luigi!"

Lucy immediately started to grow angry at the same time that Matthiah struggled to contain his mirth from erupting.

"IT'S **LUCY** , YOU MORON!" The girl screamed before walking away. As she did, everyone at the table except for Natsu looked at her.

"Daaaamn, where did you find that cutie, Natsu?" Wakaba Mine, an older guild member who usually smoked, asked, chomping his cigarette.

"Lucky-ass bastard." The archer mage Leonard Vyrenum muttered good-naturedly. "I need to ask Gideon if he can let her join our team."

"Nah." Zoas Ivenko, member of the mage team Black Wall, replied. "She's gonna join ours. Wanna bet?"

Natsu, who wasn't paying any attention to the conversation, suddenly walked away, having finished his meal.

"Yo, Natsu!" Matthiah asked. "Where are you going?"

"To work." The fire mage replied. "I have no money. Why, you wanna join in?"

Matthiah shrugged. "Hey, it would be my first job as a guild mage… why not?" He followed Natsu to the job board and started viewing the job requests. Given both were looking for pay, they looked for a job with a good reward.

"Hmm… this one, probably?" Matthiah asked. "Look, fifty thousand Jewels just for watching over the guy's mansion for one night."

"Yeah, no." Natsu replied. "Look at this one. They're giving us sixty-five thousand, in order to beat up a bunch of hooligans vandalizing Sybero Village. More pay, and a chance to fight, as well!"

"Right, go right ahead." Matthiah proceeded. "Just don't drag me along when you tear down gods know what. You're mentioned in just about every magazine and newspaper because of the property damage."

"You know, if that's the problem, we have this one right here." Happy pointed out. "Taking out a bunch of thieves hiding in the countryside. And look at the pay."

"One hundred and sixty jewels?" Natsu asked, looking like a child staring at a candy store. "Taking it!"

"Is my daddy back yet?"

The trio looked to their right to see a little boy talking with Makarov.

"No." The guild master replied. "Romeo, you're the son of a very capable mage. Go back home and wait for him, hm?"

The three noticed that the kid, Romeo, was crying. He wore a t-shirt with a green flower smiling at the front.

"He said he'd come back in three days…" He said, teary-eyed. "It's been a whole week!"

"Hey, isn't Macao's job at Mount Hakobe?" Wakaba asked, joining the conversation.

"MOUNT HAKOBE IS NOT THAT FAR!" Romeo screamed, catching the attention of every guild member. "Please, look for him. I'm worried about Daddy!"

Makarov looked at the boy with a severe expression. " _No_. As I said, your father is a capable mage. No member in Fairy Tail was ever unable to take care of himself. Now, Romeo, go back to your home, drink your milk, and go to sleep."

Romeo remained where he stood.

" _Now._ " The master persisted.

Romeo complied, but not before punching the master square in the face, calling him 'idiot' and running down the guild hall crying.

Much to Lucy's amazement, Makarov did not seem that annoyed at the punch. However, she couldn't forget how strict the master had been towards the kid.

"Is the master always this strict?" She asked Mirajane.

"Yes… Master usually is a bit strict towards guild members and their relatives." The older girl replied. "However, it doesn't mean he isn't worried about Macao as well."

Suddenly, everyone heard a loud crunch. Natsu walked towards the exit, having _punched_ the job request back into the board, breaking it in the process.

"Hey, come on, Natsu!" A mage with a tribal look, Nab Lazarro, said. "Don't start breaking the board!"

Natsu ignored him, exiting the guild building followed by Happy.

"Uh, Master?" Nab asked. "Is it just me, or Natsu up to something not good at all?…"

"He's probably gonna help Macao, that's what it is." Litha replied from her corner. "Gotta give him points for the bravery. Maybe take a few for the stupidity."

"Dumbass." Lintner Tyuis, a small mage with black braided hair, replied. "If he knew any better, he would've known that he's only going to hurt Macao's pride."

Makarov laughed humorlessly. "No one should decide what he wants, or not, to do. Let's let him be."

Matthiah recomposed himself and walked up to the bar, where Lucy and Mirajane were.

"Hey, does anyone know what's going on with him?" He asked. "I mean, sure, someone had to go find out what happened to the kid's dad, but…"

"Yeah." Lucy agreed. "He just left, all of a sudden…"

"That's because Natsu went through the same thing when he was about Romeo's age." Mirajane replied. "In fact, you could say he saw himself reflected in Romeo."

That piqued both Lucy and Matthiah's attention.

"What happened?" The former asked.

"Natsu's father, ever since he left him, never came back." Mirajane explained. "Well, maybe 'father' is not the most appropriate term. He was more of a foster parent." She smiled. "Also, he was a dragon."

Lucy fell down from her chair in surprise, and Matthiah just stared at Mirajane as if she had told that the Magic Council was disbanding.

"A… _dragon?_ " Lucy asked in disbelief as she picked herself off the floor.

"You know, when you think about it, that kind of explains his eating methods." Matthiah said as he abandoned his stupor.

"But STILL!" Lucy stepped in. "Natsu was raised by a _dragon?_ Impossible!"

"Oh, but it's very possible." Mirajane calmly replied. "That dragon found Natsu in a forest when he was very young. From that dragon, he learned much: letters, numbers, cultures… even magic."

"Magic…" Lucy muttered. Suddenly, something clicked within her mind. "Was that dragon, by any chance, called Igneel?"

Mirajane smiled. "Yes. The mythical Igneel, king of the Fire Dragons. Unfortunately for Natsu, Igneel disappeared one day. However, he still hopes to see the fire dragon again."

The two most recent members of Fairy Tail pondered on the backstory of the quirky Dragon Slayer that got them into the guild.

"Yeah… at least he had someone he could call 'father'." Matthiah said. "The most I ever got was akin to an older brother."

"Really?" Mirajane asked. "How so, exactly?"

Matthiah shrugged. "You see, I don't even know who are my parents. I was taken in by a guy called Armitage and his group of bounty hunters." He told. "He was a bit hot-headed, but I can't say he disliked me."

"You must have held him in high esteem, then."

"In a way, yeah." Matthiah stated. "He's the one who gave me inspiration to wander Earthland, taking odd jobs for cash. Like a one-man guild. He told me this: 'Not everyone is bound by law and order. It's up to these people to decide if they'll do something worth living for, or screw themselves over'. He believed that obedience to the law didn't dictate the morality of a person."

He sighed. "One day, a guild attacked us. A legal guild. For no reason at all. Our hiding spot was flooded, and the only thing he told me was to run. I never heard from him or from the others afterwards."

Mirajane looked down, still smiling, though her face showed signs of sadness. "A characteristic shared by most of us." She picked up a small medallion and placed it on the counter. "We… the mages of Fairy Tail… most of us carry less than good memories. They can be grief for the loss of a father or a son, they can be the pain from severe wounds yet to be healed… they can even be the suffering from knowing that something, anything, horrible happened in your life, and you could have avoided it."

She sighed. "Even I, as well…"

"Hm?" Lucy wondered.

Mirajane paused for a moment, before saying, "Nothing. Sorry." She turned her back to them and resumed cleaning the empty cups.

Lucy then turned to Matthiah, who was looking at the wooden doors.

"I think we should go with Natsu." She said. "I mean, he saved me, along with you, of course, from Salamander and a lifetime of slavery, and he also found you a new home. We owe him that much, right?"

"You're right." The black-and-green-coated mage replied. "We do."

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _En route to Mount Hakobe_

The ride to Mount Hakobe was shaping up to be slow and uneventful. The group of four were on a house-shaped carriage with beds, probably made so that people would feel comfortable during the travels, but it certainly wasn't so for Natsu, if his pained whimpering was any indication.

Lucy was chatting with Happy (who was paying more attention to Natsu's sick state) and Matthiah (who entertained himself by creating small bolts of Havok magic) about the talk she had with Mirajane in the hours following the chaotic brawl when she first entered the guild.

She either didn't notice that they weren't paying much attention, or maybe she didn't care and wanted to talk anyway.

"…And then, we agreed to meet at her house next week!" She concluded, excited. "It's gonna be so fun!"

"Aye." Happy said. "Just… try not to steal any underwear or things like that, okay?"

Lucy looked disbelievingly at Happy. "Wha—WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

"That mage who asked for _your_ underwear, probably." Matthiah butted in.

Lucy blushed. She didn't want to be reminded of having a stark naked person asking for her underwear. Specially someone from the opposite gender.

"And, anyway, why are you two coming with us?" Happy asked.

"Why?" Lucy replied. "Is there an issue with our presence?"

"Because I wanted to help the kid." Matthiah explained. "Plus, Natsu helped me. Now I'm helping him back."

"Yeah." Lucy added up. "It's our chance. A chance to do something to help Fairy Tail!" She concluded with sparkling eyes.

Happy and Matthiah looked at her disbelievingly before turning to each other. "She's only doing this to raise her reputation, isn't she?" The blue cat asked.

"You're asking me?" Matthiah replied. "You're the ones who met her first. I literally don't know shit about her."

"We barely even talked!" Happy shot back. "But you have to admit, she looks a bit like a spoiled little girl."

"Yyyyup." Matthiah agreed.

"EXCUSE ME?" Lucy asked in total rage. "YOU KNOW I'M STANDING HERE, RIGHT?"

"Wha-?" Matthiah stammered. "Oh, sorry, Lucy. We didn't know you were there."

"Aye." Happy added.

Lucy turned to Natsu. "Can't you tell your cat to…" She halted as she noticed that the Dragon Slayer was lying sick on his bed. "Oh… you and transportation don't usually get along, right?"

She sighed, sitting back down. After a while, she said, "You know, after we find Macao-san, I'll have to find a house for myself on Magnolia."

"Second that." Matthiah agreed.

"You know, you two can come to our house if you want." Happy offered. "We have plenty of space."

Lucy and Matthiah looked at each other, then at Happy.

"Uhh… thanks, but no." The latter replied. "I'm sure I can find a home for myself."

"He wasn't saying that seriously, was he?" Lucy asked. She turned to the blue cat. "If you were saying that seriously, I think I'm going to pull out your whiskers."

Happy still smiled. Suddenly, Natsu jumped up.

" _It stopped_!"

"Finally." Matthiah replied.

However, the carriage's driver came into the wooden house. "I'm sorry…"

"What?" Lucy asked as she opened the carriage door—

-only to be greeted by the sting of cold winds and the sight of an intense snowstorm.

"…but I'm afraid the carriage can't go any further than this." The driver finished.

Natsu wordlessly stepped out. The intense cold didn't seem to faze him.

"Aw, _come on_!" Lucy groaned. "I know we're high up in the mountains, but it's summer! How is this snowstorm even _existing_ in the first place?"

"Hold on, I think I've got something." Matthiah searched his pockets, shivering, until he found what he was looking for: a glowing reddish-orange lacrima. "Yyyyup. Here it is. Heater lacrima."

Lucy was going to ask (more like beg) to use the lacrima when he saw Matthiah activating it, at which point it dissolved into an orange mist envolving the mage, who sighed in relief.

"It's so cold…" She cried.

"Yeah, you should have packed more clothes than that." Natsu nonchalantly replied.

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING!" Lucy snapped back.

The carriage driver stepped in. "Well, I'm afraid I must return to Magnolia. Farewell."

With these parting words, he drove the carriage away, leaving the three mages and the cat behind.

"HEY!" Lucy tried to run after the carriage, but it was too fast for her. "AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO RETURN?"

Natsu, Happy and Matthiah just stared at the girl.

"She's noisy." Natsu commented.

"Seems so." Matthiah agreed.

"Aye."

None of them were surprised to see Lucy scuttle after them as they made their way to Mount Hakobe.

"Can I b-b-borrow that blanket?..." Lucy eventually asked, pulling on the blanket on Natsu's bag.

She heard no answer from Natsu, but such was because of the wind; he had said 'no'. As such, she wrapped the blanket around herself and raised her arm, with a silver key in her hand.

"O-O-Open, Gate of the Clock…"

Suddenly, a bright flash caused Natsu and Matthiah to turn around…

" **Horologium!** "

…and stand stunned, along with Happy, at the new being: a Celestial Spirit shaped like a tall brown grandfather clock, only with long black arms and a small face at the top, with slit eyes and a twirly mustache.

Lucy hurried up to open Horologium's glass case and enter it, closing it.

"I'll stay here." The clock spirit suddenly voiced. "…she says."

The other three stood flabbergasted.

"By the way, what exactly was Macao-san's job? …she says." Horologium continued.

"Yeah…" Matthiah piped up. "It'd be nice to know what we're up against, right?"

"You mean, you came here without knowing what to expect?" Natsu asked, his expression grim. "The two of you?" He sighed. "Macao came here to subdue a violent creature. It's called a Vulcan."

Both Matthiah and Lucy started to look nervous. And such was justified; a Vulcan was a massive ape-like creature that usually dwelled basically anywhere; be it a forest, a tropical beach, or even a snowy mountain such as Hakobe. And worse, they were infamous for their brutality towards humans or any other type of creature, even though some of them didn't necessarily manifest violent tendencies.

"I want to go home! …she says."

"I'll stay by and make sure nothing happens… …I say." Matthiah said.

"Suit yourselves." Natsu replied. "…I say."

"Aye."

Natsu and Happy trekked through the unforgiving snowstorm, trusting that, at least Matthiah and Lucy would get back to Fairy Tail in safety. They didn't necessarily disapprove; rookie mages were commonly advised to be extremely careful when breaching a Vulcan's territory. Even Matthiah, who had spent his time hunting down several low-key thieves, slavers and smugglers, would have to be, in most mages' eyes, careful, for the "apes" were far stronger than humans.

However, Natsu was an experienced mage. Most members of Fairy Tail, even those with the weakest combat abilities, were capable of holding their own against a Vulcan.

Suddenly, the loud sound of rumbling made itself known.

"Uhhh… Natsu?" Happy called.

The Dragon Slayer looked up, and saw a massive pile of rocks coming down on him.

He jumped out of the way, and the rocks (most of them being bigger than he was) landed harmlessly. Then, a creature roared.

A massive shape jumped down. As it approached, Natsu managed to distinguish the oversized arms coming for him—

-and somersaulted out of the way as the massive beast landed.

The Vulcan had arrived.

"All right, ugly." Natsu began to flare his magic. "You're gonna show me where is Macao is…" He lit up his fist. "…and you're gonna tell me right—"

He interrupted himself when he saw that the Vulcan sprinted past him, and right in Matthiah and Lucy's general direction.

"—now?"

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _Well, this is not shaping up to be a good day._

Matthiah stared off in the distance and cursed the torrent of bad luck that was taking form before him.

First, he learned that the mage they were supposed to rescue had, for some reason, decided to go take down a highly dangerous beast. This alone made him think it probably was best to hang around the giant clock spirit inside which Lucy was taking refuge.

Then, the sudden sounds of thumping and the appearance of said beast made him think he was going off lucky if he merely ended up shitting his pants.

 _Then,_ the giant ape runs off… with Horologium and Lucy, into the distance.

Of course, there was still one thing that picked away at his brain: How in hell did the Vulcan—

"Matthiah!" He heard Natsu call out. "What happened?"

Matthiah quickly turned around. "NATSU! Oh, thank the gods!"

"What happened?" Natsu asked.

"You're not going to believe this, but the goddamn Vulcan passed through here and picked up Lucy and ran that way and I don't know my way around these mountains and the Vulcan said, 'HUMAN WOMAN!' and I don't want to know why the hell the Vulcan kidnapped Lucy and _this is completely freaking me out like you wouldn't BELIEVE_!" Matthiah babbled out at once.

Natsu stood stunned for a few moments. "Wait… he can _talk_?"

Of course, now it was Matthiah's turn to be stunned. "That's _all_ you registered?"

Natsu ignored his fellow mage and looked in the direction in which the Vulcan fled.

"He can talk…" He said as bright flames formed around him.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"How could it end up like _this?_ " Lucy asked herself in terror.

She was safe inside Horologium, but the Vulcan had taken the clock spirit to a secluded cavern right up the mountain. What's worse, she doubted either Natsu or Matthiah would be able to find out where she was.

"…she says." Horologium stated. Not that the Vulcan would pay any attention, as he was running around the Celestial Spirit in circles, grunting in what appeared to be primal joy.

"And that big monkey is going all hyperactive, and I don't even know why!" Lucy stated the obvious.

 _I wonder if this is where the monkey lives…_ she thought to herself. _Where're Natsu and Matthiah, anyway? Will they be even able to reach this place?…_

Her thoughts were brusquely interrupted when the Vulcan closed in on her, much to her horror.

"Human woman…" It muttered.

Lucy was just about to breathe a sigh of relief for the fact that she was inside the unbreakable Horologium right at the instant he started to vanish.

"Wha-? WAIT!" Lucy screamed in abject terror. "HOROLOGIUM, DON'T GO!"

"My time is up." The clock spirit said. "Farewell, Lucy." He finalized shortly before vanishing into the Celestial Spirit Realm completely.

"No, I need an extension!" Lucy begged at thin air. "Extension! Please!"

Nothing happened.

Lucy braced for the worst as the Vulcan approached her.

She could already feel its foul breath on her face when she heard a scream.

"THERE YOU ARE!"

She turned, seeing, much to her relief, Natsu and Matthiah at the cave's entrance.

"Caught up with you at last!" The latter said.

"COME ON, UGLY!" Natsu began rushing at the Vulcan. "WHERE IS MACA—AAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

So focused was Natsu on getting Macao back that he never even bothered to check his footing. Given that the floor, despite being rocky, had patches of ice here and there, it was only to be expected that Natsu fell and rolled all the way into a large stone in his way after he passed through one of these patches.

Lucy stood dismayed, and facepalmed. "Can't you just appear, for once, in a normal manner?..."

"Beats me how he's still alive by now." Matthiah commented, avoiding the patches of ice, his Havok magic ready to be used at a moment's notice. "Dragon Slayers must really be more resilient than normal humans."

Indeed, Matthiah's statement was proven true when Natsu got up, looking none the worse for wear.

"Hey, monkey!" he called out at the Vulcan. "Where's Macao?"

The Vulcan grunted in confusion.

"Come on, you know who I'm talking about!" Natsu persisted. "A human man, Macao!"

"…man?" The Vulcan eventually muttered.

"Yeah, that's right! Where did you hide him?" Natsu asked aggressively.

"W-W-What…?" Lucy asked, flabbergasted. "You just claimed that the monkey _hid_ him!"

 _But…! Now that I think about it…_ a thought creeped into the girl's mind. _Is Macao-san even alive?_

Suddenly, a sinister grin made its way into the Vulcan's face. "Oooh." It grunted, gesturing at Natsu to approach him.

"H-yeah!" Natsu rejoiced. "See? He understood me!"

"Good." Matthiah nodded. "I'll just wait outside, then. Along with the cold and whatnot." He walked out of the cave, keeping an eye on what happened inside.

As Natsu followed the Vulcan, only one thought filled Lucy's mind. _What if he is already…? No, he can't be…_

"All right," Natsu asked as he reached the spot the Vulcan pointed: another entrance into the cave. "Where is he?"

The Vulcan's only response was to grab Natsu and throw him out of the cave, as Lucy and Matthiah watched, stunned.

"What the—WHOOOAAAAA!" He screamed as he fell.

"NATSU!" Lucy screamed out.

"I no likes man." The Vulcan grunted out at the falling Dragon Slayer."I likes only woman!"

Lucy and Matthiah found a third entrance next to the second, and hurried, realizing they were makeshift windows.

"NO!" Lucy gasped, staring at the blankness below. "He can't be dead!"

Suddenly, Matthiah prepared to drop down the window.

"I'll go get him!" He explained as Lucy stared at him. "He must be alive." He concluded as he dropped down the window and started running down the steep slope.

"Yeah, you're right." Lucy muttered to herself. "He's a great mage, I'm sure he is alive…"

Nearby, the Vulcan stomped on the ground.

"I NO LIKES MAN, I NO LIKES MAN!" He screamed, the words coming out in a guttural, almost undecipherable, growl. "ONLY WOMAN! WOMAN! WOMAN!"

Lucy stared at the Vulcan, revolted.

"'Woman, woman, woman'. Perverted monkey…" She reached for her pocket. "You wanna guess what's happening to you if they both get hurt?"

She took a golden key that ended with a pair of bull horns, as her defiant question picked the Vulcan's attention.

She rotated the key, unlocking her chosen Celestial Spirit's gate.

"Open, Gate of the Bull!"

The key emitted a bright flash of white light…

" **Taurus!** "

…and as it subsided, a massive antropomorhic bull appeared. His muscular body had a massive two-handed axe strapped to the back.

The Bull, Taurus, let out a resounding _MOO_ in anticipation for the battle.

To the Vulcan's credit, it looked unfazed. "Bull?" it asked.

"Yeah, perverted monkey!" Lucy replied, ready to fight back. "Taurus, the most powerful of my Celestial Spirits, will be your opponent!"

No sooner had she finished talking than Taurus had turned to her, staring for quite a long time at her.

"Lucy-san… you have the _moo-st_ amazing boobs!" He complimented, almost drooling. " _Moo-re_ amazing than any I've ever seen before!"

 _Oh, righ, almost forgot._ Lucy remembered, dismayed. _He's also a pervert._

And yet, the Bull's perverted behavior could work in her favor, as the Vulcan now looked remarkably angry.

"Bull!" the beast called. "Off my _woman!_ "

Now it was Taurus' turn to look angry. "'My woman'?" he asked the Vulcan, approaching the oversized monkey with an offended expression. "Now that is a _moo-st_ unforgivable remark!"

"That's right, Taurus!" Lucy cheered him on. "Don't even give him space to talk!"

"You should treat her properly…" Taurus continued speaking. "…as 'My boobs', and not 'My woman'!"

Understandably, Lucy did not take that one well. "OH, THAT'S DEFINITELY NOT RIGHT!" She screamed as she covered the aforementioned parts, even though she was clothed.

 _Okay, Lucy, calm down…_ She thought to herself, calming down. _A lot of my magic power was wasted on Horologium._

She watched as Taurus grabbed his axe, preparing to fend off the Vulcan.

 _I don't know if I have enough for Taurus, but… I'll do whatever it takes. Just beat this ugly monkey…_

"Taurus, attack!" She said to the Bull spirit.

… _and then I can find Macao-san, and help Matthiah find Natsu._

Just as Taurus and the Vulcan charged at each other, a deep, distorted voice boomed through the cavern.

" **You gotta have some nerve to push me off the cliff.** "

All three turned to the window out which Natsu had been thrown by the Vulcan to see a floating figure slowly entering the cavern, shrouded in flames.

"Yeah…" another, more familiar voice, agreed. "…you need to be taught a proper lesson in regards to respect, monkey pervert."

Lucy smiled as she recognized Natsu and Matthiah hurrying back into the cave. _If the Vulcan can pray, he should start doing so now._

"Glad to see you two are okay!"

Matthiah shrugged in response, smiling humorously.

Only then, however, did Natsu pay attention to what was happening at the cave. Apparently, he had been saying that sentence to himself, cursing the Vulcan for playing him like a fool.

Unfortunately, when he finally lashed out, he did so at the wrong target.

"Come on!" He screamed, punching Taurus with a fire-coated fist. "MORE MONSTERS?"

As a show of Natsu's strength, Taurus flew a few good meters before painfully landing on his back. Still, his axe made more noise, as it landed with a loud _clang._

"Lucy-san…" The Bull managed to whimper out. "I can't take… _any-moo-re…_ "

Both Lucy and Matthiah turned to look at Natsu with angry and unamused expressions, respectively.

"You." The latter muttered. "Amazing. Dumbass. We get a giant bull with an axe ready to fight the Vulcan… and you punch him in the face. Just brilliant."

Lucy was… a bit more emotional.

"I WAS WORRYING ABOUT YOU, AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU RETURN?" She screamed at the Dragon Slayer. "HOW DID YOU EVEN SURVIVE, BY THE WAY?"

"Uhhhh…" Matthiah butted in after noting that Natsu merely grinned in reply. "You're forgetting that we _do_ have a flying cat around here. I think…"

Lucy looked up. "Oh. Right. I forgot Happy could create wings."

"Aye." Happy agreed. "It's part of my magic: Aera."

However, there was one thing that nagged away at Lucy's head. "Let me get this straight: you can't deal with transportation in any way…" she said to Natsu.

"…but you're OK with Happy?" She concluded, looking at the blue flying cat.

"Wha-? Happy's not a vehicle!" Natsu asked, offended. "He's a friend!" He quickly added, "You're weird."

"And, a living being." Matthiah said, continuing on from Natsu's first train of thought. "Let's not forget that."

"Yeah!" Natsu pointed to Matthiah in agreement. "Yo, Lucy, listen up: all of us, at Fairy Tail, we're friends of each other, see?"

At that moment, the Vulcan chose to charge upon Natsu while the Dragon Slayer had his back turned.

"From the old man, to Mira…"

"Natsu, you can finish that pep talk later, he's coming!" Matthiah pointed at the Vulcan, panicking.

"Then Gray, no matter how annoying he is, and Elfman…"

"We got it, Natsu, but he's _headed your way!_ " Lucy interrupted.

"…and Cana, Levy, Gideon, Litha…"

"Matthiah, please tell me you can take on that Vulcan!" Lucy turned to his fellow guild member.

"…and then, Happy, and you, Lucy, and you too, Matthiah."

"Not a chance…" Matthiah denied. "I can take on people and some mages, but things like Vulcans are out of my reach!"

"And that's why…" He finalized, turning to face the Vulcan. "… _I'm taking Macao back home!_ "

To punctuate, he coated his fist in fire and delivered a skull-cracking uppercut to the beast, who flew harmlessly past the two newest members of Fairy Tail, before landing right next to Taurus.

All of this, much to Lucy and Matthiah's amazement.

"Now…" Natsu threatened the Vulcan. "Tell me where the _hell_ Macao is, or I'm gonna burn you blacker than charcoal." To prove his point, he lit up both his fists.

Still, the Vulcan wasn't out, and he certainly wasn't about to back down. In reply, the beastly monkey ripped off a few icicles from the cavern's ceiling and floor and threw them at Natsu, like makeshift projectiles.

"HA!" The fire Dragon Slayer laughed as the icicles melted harmlessly upon impacting him. "Not gonna work on fire, dumbass!"

He paid no heed to the ones that missed, flying straight at Matthiah and Lucy. Fortunately, the former conjured a green barrier, which was flaring with an unstable look to it.

Still, as the icicles disintegrated into ice dust, Lucy saw that the barrier still managed to do its job.

"What kind of magic is this, exactly?" She asked.

"Havok." Matthiah explained. "Not 'havoc', I mean Havok with a 'K'. Multifunctional magic."

"I've never seen that sort of magic before." Lucy said. "How exactly does it work?"

"Honestly, I never read about it." Matthiah admitted, still concentrated on keeping up the barrier. "I've had a tattoo that reacts to it as far as I've remembered, which makes me think that unlike most mages, I was born able to use only this magic."

Lucy stared at him. "What do you mean, exactly?" She asked skeptically.

"I was gonna talk about it with some of my friends at the guild." Matthiah said, looking visibly strained. "When we get back to Fairy Tail, you and Natsu can come and pay attention as well."

He noticed that no more icicles were making it past the barrier. "Either the Vulcan got better aim, or he ran out of icicles."

He dispelled the barrier to see Natsu pointing at the Vulcan, laughing.

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, UGLY?" He provoked the beast. "RAN OUT OF WEAPONS?"

The Vulcan calmly wandered over to Taurus' direction and picked up his axe, examining it with an expression of wonder.

" _Oh…_ that's gonna hurt." Natsu conceded, visibly distressed.

"You had to say it, hadn't you?" Matthiah asked, dismayed.

"T-that's Taurus' axe!" Lucy pointed out in surprise.

The Vulcan rushed at Natsu, swinging the axe left and right with surprising speed. Just as surprising was Natsu himself, who was jumping and dodging the axe just as quickly.

"CLOSE CALL!" He screamed after one particularly vicious swing that almost chopped off his head.

This impromptu 'dance' soon came to a grinding halt once Natsu, again, stepped in a patch of ice. Predictably, he slipped, hitting his head hard on the icy floor.

Lucy and Matthiah winced at the collision.

" _Ouch…_ " Matthiah commented.

"How didn't he break his neck?" Lucy asked, amazed.

The Vulcan took advantage and prepared to bring the axe down on Natsu… who promptly caught the blade with both hands, managing to prove to be an equal in terms of physical strength.

Meanwhile, Lucy rushed to Taurus.

"Taurus? Taurus, wake up and go back!" She begged, shaking his unconscious form in an attempt to wake him up. "So that the axe can disappear as well!"

Both Natsu and the Vulcan attempted to push the axe in the other's direction, but were locked in a stalemate, at least until the former had an idea.

"Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me…" Matthiah said once he saw what Natsu was doing: heating up the heavy blade, melting it in the process.

He wasn't the only one who was surprised. The Vulcan was shocked at seeing his weapon being melted so easily, and so was Lucy.

"Did he… did he just _melt_ the blade by himself?" Lucy asked.

"You think _that's_ surprising?" Matthiah asked in return. "He's _eating_ it!"

She noticed it was somewhat true: A small glob of the axe's metal fell, and Natsu used his tongue to catch it, stopping the blade's melting soon after. After a few seconds of chewing the glob, he spat it at the Vulcan's face.

The beast howled in pain as the red-hot metal hit it in the face, and dropped the axe.

"Thanks for the revitalization…" Natsu said, coating once again his fist in flames. Only, said flames were more like the size of an inferno.

Then, he rushed at the still-recomposing Vulcan.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** "

The punch launched the Vulcan back a few good meters, and it would've been pushed back further if not for the stone wall it collided into, halting it.

"He's down!" Natsu crowed victoriously.

The other mages joined him in celebration for a good few minutes until Lucy remembered something.

"Wait…" She suddenly asked. "Weren't we supposed to ask him where Macao is?"

"Wha—ACK!" Natsu completely and utterly freaked out. "I completely forgot!"

"And there go my expectations for a smooth first mission…" Matthiah muttered to no one in particular.

Everybody just stood and stared at the Vulcan's unconscious form. Suddenly, several white lines of magic ran through its body. The lines intersected, creating a variety of geometrical shapes that floated away, peeling the Vulcan's body like an onion.

"W-what the _hell_ is going on?" Natsu asked, freaked out.

"Are you sure you didn't kill the Vulcan?" Matthiah asked, worried.

"No!" Natsu replied. "He was still breathing!"

Everybody stood in shock as the strange magic, whatever it was, peeled away at the Vulcan. After a few moments, the unexpected happened:

Underneath the Vulcan, there was a slim human man with dark blue hair and stubble, severely wounded, wearing a white and blue longcoat.

"The monkey!" Natsu pointed. "He BECAME MACAO!"

The guild members approached their fellow mage, still reeling from the astounding revelation.

"Impossible…" Lucy stated. "How did he turn into a Vulcan in the first place? It almost like he was possessed!"

"Possessed?..." Matthiah asked himself before the pieces clicked together in his head. Natsu figured it out too, being the first to voice it.

"Oh! The Vulcan used Take-Over magic!"

"Take-Over?" Lucy asked.

"Aye!" Happy began to explain. "It's a magic that allows people to 'take over' the form of something! Elfman, for example, he uses it to take on the form of several beasts. Only works well only when applied to his arm, for some reason…"

"And he never tried to do a full-body Take-Over?" Matthiah asked.

At that question, Natsu and Happy's expressions became somber. "He did. Once." The former explained. "It… didn't go well."

"Aye…" Happy agreed, looking saddened for the first time. "We don't like to talk about what happened…"

Neither of the newcomers decided to prod any further. Instead, they moved in to get Macao…

…only for him to start falling down a hole in the wall, provoked by the Vulcan's collision after Natsu's punch.

" _Oh,_ _nooooo_ …" Matthiah started to run towards Macao, but Natsu was faster, jumping in to grab Macao's arm. Happy activated Aera to help them.

However, it wasn't going well.

"Natsu, I can't carry the two of you!" Happy screamed, strained by the effort. "My wings are about to disappear!"

"Hold on!" Matthiah jumped in, grabbing Happy by the tail. "I've got you!"

Even then, Matthiah slowly began to lose hold over the rock wall.

"Shit, we're still about to go down!" He noticed. "Lucy, grab my leg!"

The girl moved in. With the help of two people yet to tire, they managed to go up a few inches. Still, the combined weight of three humans (Happy was light enough to make no difference at all in terms of weight) was taking its toll on Lucy after a few seconds.

"Heavy…" She cried out.

Just as it seemed they were about to fall, fortune favored them: Another pair of strong arms began to help.

With a feeling of joy, Lucy noticed it was Taurus, awakened.

"No _moo-re_ worries, now." The Bull smiled, as his greater strength allowed him to effortlessly pull all five Fairy Tail members to safety.

"Bull!" Natsu cried in joy. "You're an awesome guy! Sorry for hitting you!"

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

After Taurus' timely intervention, they made their way back to the summit of Mount Hakobe, where they could better treat Macao. They set up a mat to lay the injured guild member, and Natsu took out a first-aid kit from his bag to help.

"All right…" Matthiah said, examining the guild mage. "From what it's looking like, he fought a lot, and against a lot of creatures. As a consequence, he got extremely fatigued physically, which facilitated the Vulcan's Take-Over."

"Yeah, that wound looks serious." Lucy observed. "The Vulcan that Took-Over him must have inflicted it to make it even easier."

"Aye." Happy agreed. "Master did say, once, that Take-Over is made by completely understanding that which we want to assimilate, but in the case of a fight, it can be made easier by injuring the target, in case of a living being."

"Macao, hang on!" Natsu told his unconscious colleague. "We're not gonna let you go away!"

"So that's how Vulcans survive…" Lucy stated, horrified. "They Take-Over human bodies!"

"Yeah, creepiest thing I've seen, _ever!_ " Matthiah added. "The Magic Council is going to appreciate this information, I can see it!"

After taking a closer look at the wound, Lucy started to worry. "The wound is too deep… we can't do anything more with just this first-aid kit…" She turned to Matthiah. "Matthiah, you got any healing Lacrimas?"

"Yeah, but they only serve to treat diseases, viral infections, and the like." He replied. "We'd need a specialized healer to close the wound and heal it. Unfortunately, we don't have one."

Natsu shook his head.

"No, we don't." He lit up his hand. "But we have _this._ "

With that said, he pressed his flaming hand against the wound.

Macao snapped back to consciousness, screaming in pain.

"Lucy, Matthiah, hold Macao down!" He told his guildmates, who proceeded accordingly. He then looked back at Macao. "Sorry, buddy, but this is all we have!"

The two newcomers instantly realized what Natsu was trying to do: cauterizing the wound and closing it by means of fire. Not only it would the fire serve as a makeshift first-aid tool, it would also stop the bleeding.

"Ugh… _shiiit…_ " Macao muttered his first coherent words.

"Macao, whatever you do, _don't die_!" Natsu snapped at him. "Remember, Romeo's waiting for you!"

"It's a damn shame…" Macao explained. "I… only got nineteen of them, and number 20 managed to take me over…"

"I get it!" Natsu replied. "Just don't speak anymore, or the wound will reopen!"

 _Impossible!_ Lucy thought, shocked. _He took down nineteen… by_ himself?

"How strong do you need to be to take down _ten_ Vulcans, let alone _twenty?..._ " Matthiah asked himself.

"Goddamn it…" Macao started crying. "How am I going to look Romeo in the eye from here on?…"

"I said shut up!" Natsu screamed. "Or do you want me to punch you?"

Lucy and Matthiah turned to Happy. "We got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to magic power, right?" The former asked.

"Nay." Happy replied, starting to smile. "Others came in, as powerful as either of you, and look where they are! Half of our S-Class mages were weaker than you when they entered, and they were older as well." He cheered up. "Don't start to lose confidence."

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

 _ **Magnolia Town, Fiore, Earthland**_

Romeo sat at the overview of Magnolia Park, reading his favorite comic book.

About a day and a half earlier, his best friend in Fairy Tail, Natsu, left Magnolia with two new members – at least he assumed they were new; at the very least, he had never seen those two before – to rescue his dad from Mount Hakobe.

He wondered how long it would take for them to get his dad when he heard an all too familiar voice call, "Romeo?"

The hopeful kid turned around to see Natsu, Happy and the two new members – Lucy and Matthiah, he remembered – approaching him.

And, with them, looking hurt but still up, was his dad. Needing help from Natsu to walk, but he was back.

"Daddy…?" Romeo asked in disbelief, as he remembered what made his dad go out on the mission at Mount Hakobe.

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

" _Your dad's a mage?" Romeo remembered one of his colleagues at school asking him._

" _Yeah, he's one of those drunkards at Fairy Tail!" The leader of the usual pack of bullies – three of them – replied, mocking his dad and his dad's guild._

" _Hah!" Another of the bullies laughed. "What's so special about them, anyway?"_

" _Yeah!" The third one continued. "They're just a pack of drunks!"_

 _Romeo had lashed out. "No!" He screamed back. "They're not! You're wrong!"_

" _No we're not!" The second bully smugly replied. "Mages are cowards, everyone knows that!"_

" _Yeah!" The first bully laughed, an ugly snort."When I grow up, I'm gonna be a knight! Knights are cool!"_

" _He's right!" The third agreed with his huge, provoking grin. "Mages stink! Of alcohol!"_

 _Romeo was used to being made fun of. Didn't mean he was friendless. Still, there were these who didn't like mages at all. They were rare, but there were still those who hated magic as a whole._

 _And Romeo, being the only one in his class who was the son of a mage, was their preferred target. One day, to shut them up, he went to the guild to see his dad._

" _Daddy, please go do something awesome!" The boy had implored to his dad._

" _Why?" He replied. "The kids poking fun at you for being the son of a mage?"_

" _Yeah!" Came Romeo's answer. "I don't… I don't want to be insulted like this forever! Do something to prove them wrong!"_

 _The boy was already in tears by this point. Fortunately, his father had agreed. He always wanted to give his son a reason to smile._

" _Don't worry." He grinned. "Be sure to lay them down on their asses when I come back."_

" _When?"_

" _Three days." He replied as he prepared to pack his bag. "Most likely."_

 **xoO—FT—Oox**

"Daddy…" Romeo tearfully said upon hugging his dad. "I'm so sorry… I…"

"I'm the one who should apologize, son." Macao gently interrupted. "I made you worry, all this time."

"It's okay, dad…" Romeo cut in, crying in joy. "I'm the son of a mage!"

"Heh." Macao laughed quietly. "Tell you what, son: next time these kids tease you, go ask them…"

Romeo looked up, expectantly.

"…if their old men can beat down nineteen monsters by themselves, _alone_." Macao finished, grinning while he spoke.

As he finished, Romeo's face lit up with happiness.

"Got it?" Macao asked.

Romeo laughed.

"YEAH!"

Soon after, Natsu took Macao back to the guild, followed by the two newcomers

"Natsu, Happy, thanks!" Romeo thanked his friends.

"You got it!" – "Aye!"

"Oh! Also…"

He gestured at the two newcomers.

"Thank you two as well! Lucy! Matthiah!"

The two waved at Romeo as they left for the guild, unaware of that which they were all going to get involved in over the next few years… _"_

* * *

 ** _Coming up next: A ninja wannabe, a battle between two guild members, and a lecherous scumbag whose taste in the opposite gender is..._ questionable.**

 _ **See y'all next time! You know... once I... get the third chapter up and running... and start the Daybreak arc...**_


End file.
